It depends on what you mean by "work for." Public defenders are generally employees of the jurisdiction for which they work, often a city, county, or state, and are paid by that jurisdiction. They work on behalf of the accused, but they are "officers of the court" and required by law to handle some situations in particular ways, so in that sense they do "work for the court." What those requirements are will vary from jurisdiction to juristiction.

They're usually paid by some public jurisdiction, but they "work for" the accused in the sense that he or she is the client, with all that implies as to ethical obligations, including best efforts, confidentiality, etc. They are in some sense "officers of the court," but then so are all attorneys. If you have the services of a P.D. you're entitlted to expect everything you would from someone that you were paying yourself.

I was in the same situation. I am in Australia and was charged with several offences. In past cases, I also used Legal Aid and was shafted by them. The last time hopefully, I again was arrested and I protested my innocence. I spent a night in lock up and the Mago granted me bail the next day, report 3x a week, not move house etc. The next 12 months, I had to see legal aid many times, had to go through three committal hearings etc, all at tax payers expence. I was asked all along the legal system if I was pleading guilty or not. I kept saying, NOT. I was told by my council many times, make it easy, plead guilty. I said NO. They always insisted, that I had the right to a jury, but also stated that I had no chance. I took the chance and pleaded not guilty and a trial was started. One and a half days for the trial, then the jury retired. FOUR hours later, AQUITTED of all charges. In total, I spent a day in lock up and 18 months under supervision, report3x a week even xmas day, and got aquitted by a jury of 12. No compansation at all. I must say, that all public defenders can go either way. To their ability, they should be independent of the cases they are working on. They should be working on your, clients behalf, no matter what the charges are. In my case, Legal Aid and the prosecution are paid by the same persons, tax payers.

Public Defenders work for the jurisdiction of the court, financed by taxpayer's dollars. However, they are legally obligated to provide all avenues of protection under the law for their client, and ethically defend them in court; this is also in their best interest to do so. Public Defenders work for a Public Defense office, not for the Prosecution's Office. If a defendant can afford it, it is always better for them to have a private attorney who would be less likely to plea bargain and more likely to press your case if you should be a defendant. Wha become problematic is the fact that in many courts PD's are overloaded with many cases at once, and can provide only minimal legal advice as their workload allows. E.g. a PD in a more rural, well funded Jurisidiction would have much more time to work on a Defendant's case than one in an underfunded urban circuit. Your Miranda rights garantee legal advice, however they do not garantee the "Quality" or attention to your case. Opt for private defense if at all possible, as a general rule.