Katherine Braner

Board Member

Katherine Braner is the Chief Deputy of the Primary Public Defender Office for the San Diego County Office of the Public Defender. With almost thirty years of criminal defense litigation experience, she has been a staunch advocate for protecting the constitutional rights of the indigent accused. She has defended victims of human trafficking in both adult criminal and juvenile delinquency court. Witnessing first-hand the detrimental impact even a misdemeanor criminal record can have on a person’s quality of life, she created the Fresh Start Program, a comprehensive criminal record relief program designed to aid community members in cleaning up their records to remove barriers to employment, housing, educational opportunities, and other civil involvement.

Ms. Braner received her Bachelors’ degree from Bowling Green State University, graduating Summa Cum Laude with Honors in 1990. She earned her law degree from Yale Law School in 1993. She was admitted to the Washington, D.C. Bar in 1993 and the California Bar in 1994.