New Jersey’s Public Defender since 2002, Yvonne Smith Segars oversees an agency of 1,000 employees, including over 500 staff attorneys and the services of over 500 outside counsel. The Office of the Public Defender (OPD) provides a multitude of services to indigent adults and juveniles, particularly in the area of criminal defense. This multi-faceted agency represents abused and neglected children through the Office of Law Guardian and individuals facing termination of parental rights through the Office of Parental Representation.

A defense attorney for 20 years, Ms. Segars is a staunch advocate for the poor and disenfranchised. Prior to her appointment, Public Defender Segars served as the Chief Managing Attorney in Essex County, the largest OPD region in New Jersey. Besides her managerial duties, she tried a gamut of cases from simple assault to multiple homicides. Earlier she served as bond counsel with the NJ firm of McManimon & Scotland, LLC gaining experience in municipal finance and transactional law.

Ms. Segars is a pioneer in the New Jersey drug court movement and has lectured nationally on drug courts and policies related to criminal justice and drug treatment. She was the first Drug Court Public Defender in Essex County, and a founding member of the NJ Network of Drug Court Professionals. In her capacity as Public Defender she created the first Statewide Drug Court Unit in the agency. Ms. Segars serves on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, and is a core faculty member for the Justice Management Institute and the National Drug Court Institute. A peer reviewer and consultant for the U.S. Department of Justice, she continues to aggressively participate in and advocate for Drug Courts on both a national and local level.

Ms. Segars is a member of the Chief Defender Policy Group for the National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA), Vice-Chair of the NJ State Sentencing Commission, which is charged with the review and reform of NJ’s sentencing scheme and underlying policies; a member of the New Jersey State Criminal Disposition Commission and the NJ Domestic Violence Fatality and Near Fatality Review Board. She also served on the Criminal Justice Subcommittee of New Jersey’s Mental Health Task Force.

As New Jersey’s Law Guardian, Yvonne Segars has aggressively launched initiatives in the child welfare reform movement and has been a member of the Governor's Cabinet for Children since its creation in 2003. She sits on the Board of Advisors for the Office of the Child Advocate, the Division of Youth and Family Services Staffing and Outcome Review Panel, and is Chairwoman of that group's Subcommittee on Juveniles in Detention.

Ms. Segars was the 2005 recipient of Kean University’s Doctor of Laws Honorary Degree. In 2004 she received the Rutgers Law School Distinguished Alumna Award and the Leadership Award from the Association of Black Women Lawyers. Ms. Segars has also appeared as a legal commentator on MS-NBC, Court-TV, Fox News Channel’s Crier Report, Fox News, Garden State Matters on UPN-9, NJN’s "Due Process" and Comcast Newsmakers.
She received her J.D. from Rutgers School of Law, Newark, and her B.A. in psychology from Kean University.