PORTLAND (AP) – The U.S. District Court will be getting a public defender to represent some of the people who face federal charges in Maine and cannot afford to hire a lawyer on their own.

Maine is among nine of the nation’s 94 federal court districts that lack public defender services. At present, a criminal justice panel made up of 65 to 70 experienced lawyers represents indigent defendants in federal cases. That panel will continue to handle between 40 percent and 50 percent of the cases, but the new public defender’s office will pick up the rest.

Judges of the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston will appoint the public defender, who is expected to take office by the spring following congressional approval of funding for the position. The appointee will recruit two assistants, who will have offices in Bangor and Portland.

A public defender will bring resources and other expertise that can match the U.S. Attorney’s Office, some defense attorneys said.

Tom Connelly, a Portland defense attorney, said the federal bar can be a highly demanding venue that “does not suffer fools gladly.”

Additional resources, better access to private investigators and other research are more easily accessible to public defenders, he said.

“That’s a big deal,” he said. “In that forum, in those moments, a little bit makes all the difference in the world.”

William Brownell, a clerk in the U.S. District Court in Portland, said the move to a public defender will help to lessen the caseload for the lawyers on the criminal justice panel.

“The court has been very pleased with the caliber of the local bar, but this is again, a step forward,” he said.

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