My’chael D. Jefferson-Reese relishes being a champion for people facing legal trouble.

“I love helping people,” the veteran public defender said. “I wake up every day eager to come to work.”

Now Ms. Jefferson-Reese will have a bigger opportunity to do battle on behalf of people facing jail or prison time.

On June 10, she shed her title as chief deputy public defender in Richmond and officially became the chief public defender for Chesterfield County.

She is the first person to have that role in Chesterfield.

The General Assembly authorized and approved funding to open a new county public defender’s office, which will be part of a network of 30 offices across the state that the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission manages.

Until now, Chesterfield has been the largest population center in Virginia without a publicly funded defense operation.

Ms. Jefferson-Reese will have no shortage of clients. According to annual reports, Chesterfield’s courts handle 5,000 and 7,000 felony cases a year, along with more than 17,000 misdemeanor cases, both well above the caseloads of Richmond’s courts.

Public defenders do not handle every case. Still, they are a mainstay for people who cannot afford a lawyer, which is normal for a large majority of those charged.

The opening of the Chesterfield office is recognition of the growth in the number of county residents who need legal help.

Ms. Jefferson-Reese wishes she could open July 1 when the office will be officially activated under the legislation passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Ralph S. Northam.

However, she said the physical space is still being outfitted, and she still needs to recruit and hire 21 attorneys and staff who will be on her team.

She said she expects to open the public defender’s office in the fall and is now taking time to acquaint herself with the judges and her counterparts in the commonwealth’s attorney’s office who prosecute crimes.

But when she does open, “My goal is to field the most courtroom battle-ready team” of attorneys, including herself, to ensure adequate representation for those facing charges, Ms. Jefferson-Reese said.

She will bring plenty of experience. She has handled thousands of cases during her seven years defending clients as an attorney with the Petersburg Public Defender’s Office and during her five years with the Richmond office. Her new job comes after serving a year as chief deputy to Richmond’s chief public defender Tracy Paner.

Ms. Jefferson-Reese, 43, also will be in familiar territory. She grew up in Chesterfield and lives in the county with her husband, Gregory Reese, a retail store manager, and her two children, ages 14 and 4.

A University of Richmond graduate, Ms. Jefferson-Reese earned her law degree at the University of Dayton School of Law in Ohio.

She said she thought she wanted to be a civil litigator in a big law firm when she graduated and passed the bar exam, but she found her passion in criminal law and her calling as a public defender, even though the state’s pay scale is modest.

She is bemused that she had to rise to chief deputy to match the salary she received in 2003 when she was named an associate at a corporate firm in Dayton after finishing law school.

Ms. Paner, who commands an office of 29 attorneys that will soon grow to 33, is proud that Ms. Jefferson-Reese has gained recognition for her work through this appointment.

Despite the challenges, Ms. Paner, a 29-year public defender, said the majority of public defenders are committed to the work. She noted that openings for the top jobs are scarce because of the low turnover.

Ms. Jefferson-Reese is the second top attorney from the Richmond office to move up. Earlier this year, the office’s other chief deputy, Lauren Whitley, was named to lead the Fredericksburg Public Defender’s Office.