The public defender commission shall appoint and discharge, at its discretion, the municipal public defender and his or her assistants. The municipal public defender shall be licensed to practice law in this state. The compensation for the municipal public defender and assistants shall be fixed by the public defender commission, subject to appropriate city policies and approval by the city council through the annual budget process. The clerical staff of the public defender office shall be classified as career service employees. (Code 1979, § 25-63; Ord. No. 2005-12, § 88, 4-11-2005)