Joni Spears

Contra Costa County Office of the Public Defender

Joni has spent more than half of her 20-year career representing youth in delinquency matters, including youth committed to Contra Costa County’s long-term custodial programs and youth committed to DJJ. Currently, Joni is the manager of the Contra Costa Public Defender Mental Health Unit. Joni serves on the Board of State and Community Corrections, Juvenile Regulations Revision Executive Steering Committee’s SYTF Subcommittee. Joni is a member of PJDC’s Advisory Board and is contributing author to PJDC’s “California Post-Disposition Representation” manual. Joni regularly trains defenders on a variety of topics through PJDC and CPDA, including (until DJJ closure) best practices in representing youth at DJJ. Since enactment of SB 823, Joni has co-led multiple training through PJDC and CPDA on best practices in representing SYTF-committed youth. Joni is a certified Juvenile Training Immersion Program trainer and has continued training attorney throughout the state in issues related to post-disposition representation, SYTFs and competency to stand trial. In 2020, Joni was named PJDC’s Juvenile Defender of the Year.