§ 17-12-3 - Council created; membership
O.C.G.A. 17-12-3 (2010)
17-12-3. Council created; membership
(a) There is created the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council to be composed of 15 members.
(b) Ten members of the council shall be appointed as follows:
(1) Two members shall be appointed by the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia, and the Chief Judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals as further set forth in paragraph (2) of this subsection. Except as provided in paragraph (3.1) of this subsection, the members of the council shall be individuals with significant experience working in the criminal justice system or who have demonstrated a strong commitment to the provision of adequate and effective representation of indigent defendants. The members shall serve terms of four years; provided, however, that the members appointed from the even-numbered judicial administration circuits shall serve initial terms of six years and thereafter shall serve terms of four years;
(2) The members appointed pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be chosen so that each of the ten judicial administration districts in this state is represented and so that each appointing authority shall rotate the particular judicial administration district for which he or she is responsible for appointing. The appointments shall be as follows:
(A) For the initial appointments:
(i) The Governor shall appoint one person who resides in judicial administration district 1 and one person who resides in judicial administration district 2;
(ii) The Lieutenant Governor shall appoint one person who resides in judicial administration district 3 and one person who resides in judicial administration district 4;
(iii) The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall appoint one person who resides in judicial administration district 5 and one person who resides in judicial administration district 6;
(iv) The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia shall appoint one person who resides in judicial administration district 7 and one person who resides in judicial administration district 8, except that on and after July 1, 2008, the Lieutenant Governor shall make such appointments; and
(v) The Chief Judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals shall appoint one person who resides in judicial administration district 9 and one person who resides in judicial administration district 10, except that on and after July 1, 2008, the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall make such appointments;
(B) For the first subsequent council appointments:
(i) The Governor shall appoint one person who resides in judicial administration district 3 and one person who resides in judicial administration district 4;
(ii) The Lieutenant Governor shall appoint one person who resides in judicial administration district 5 and one person who resides in judicial administration district 6;
(iii) The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall appoint one person who resides in judicial administration district 7 and one person who resides in judicial administration district 8;
(iv) The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia shall appoint one person who resides in judicial administration district 9 and one person who resides in judicial administration district 10, except that on and after July 1, 2008, the Lieutenant Governor shall make such appointments; and
(v) The Chief Judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals shall appoint one person who resides in judicial administration district 1 and one person who resides in judicial administration district 2, except that on and after July 1, 2008, the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall make such appointments;
(C) For the second subsequent council appointments:
(i) The Governor shall appoint one person who resides in judicial administration district 5 and one person who resides in judicial administration district 6;
(ii) The Lieutenant Governor shall appoint one person who resides in judicial administration district 7 and one person who resides in judicial administration district 8;
(iii) The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall appoint one person who resides in judicial administration district 9 and one person who resides in judicial administration district 10;
(iv) The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia shall appoint one person who resides in judicial administration district 1 and one person who resides in judicial administration district 2, except that on and after July 1, 2008, the Lieutenant Governor shall make such appointments; and
(v) The Chief Judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals shall appoint one person who resides in judicial administration district 3 and one person who resides in judicial administration district 4, except that on and after July 1, 2008, the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall make such appointments;
(D) For the third subsequent council appointments:
(i) The Governor shall appoint one person who resides in judicial administration district 7 and one person who resides in judicial administration district 8;
(ii) The Lieutenant Governor shall appoint one person who resides in judicial administration district 9 and one person who resides in judicial administration district 10;
(iii) The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall appoint one person who resides in judicial administration district 1 and one person who resides in judicial administration district 2;
(iv) The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia shall appoint one person who resides in judicial administration district 3 and one person who resides in judicial administration district 4, except that on and after July 1, 2008, the Lieutenant Governor shall make such appointments; and
(v) The Chief Judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals shall appoint one person who resides in judicial administration district 5 and one person who resides in judicial administration district 6, except that on and after July 1, 2008, the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall make such appointments; and
(E) For the fourth subsequent council appointments:
(i) The Governor shall appoint one person who resides in judicial administration district 9 and one person who resides in judicial administration district 10;
(ii) The Lieutenant Governor shall appoint one person who resides in judicial administration district 1 and one person who resides in judicial administration district 2;
(iii) The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall appoint one person who resides in judicial administration district 3 and one person who resides in judicial administration district 4;
(iv) The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia shall appoint one person who resides in judicial administration district 5 and one person who resides in judicial administration district 6, except that on and after July 1, 2008, the Lieutenant Governor shall make such appointments; and
(v) The Chief Judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals shall appoint one person who resides in judicial administration district 7 and one person who resides in judicial administration district 8, except that on and after July 1, 2008, the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall make such appointments.
All subsequent appointments shall continue on, with the entire cycle starting over again as specified in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph;
(3) The eleventh member shall be one circuit public defender who shall serve on the council. After the initial appointments as set forth in paragraph (4) of this subsection, the circuit public defender to serve on the council shall be elected by a majority vote of all the circuit public defenders. The circuit public defender councilmember shall serve terms of two years;
(3.1) Four members of the council shall be county commissioners who have been elected and are serving as members of a county governing authority in this state. The county commissioner councilmembers shall be appointed by the Governor on or before July 1, 2008, and shall be from different geographic regions of this state. The Governor may solicit recommendations for such appointees from the Association County Commissioners of Georgia. Each county commissioner councilmember shall serve terms of four years; provided, however, that the initial appointments shall be for one, two, three, and four years, respectively, as designated by the Governor for each appointment, and thereafter, such members shall serve terms of four years. A county commission councilmember shall be eligible to serve so long as he or she retains the office by virtue of which he or she is serving on the council;
(4) Except as provided in paragraph (3.1) of this subsection, all initial appointments shall be made to become members of the council on July 1, 2003, and their successors shall become members of the council on July 1 following their appointment. The initial appointees from the even-numbered judicial administration circuits shall serve until June 30, 2009. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (3) of this subsection, the initial member representing the circuit public defenders shall be made by the Supreme Court of Georgia. The person representing the circuit defender position on the initial council shall be engaged on a full-time basis in the provision of criminal defense to the indigent;
(5) Any vacancy for a member appointed pursuant to paragraphs (1), (2), and (3.1) of this subsection shall be filled by the appointing authority, and such appointee shall serve the balance of the vacating member's unexpired term; and
(6) Any vacancy for a member appointed pursuant to paragraph (3) of this subsection shall be the successor to the circuit public defender as set forth in subsection (e) of Code Section 17-12-20.
(c) In making the appointments for ten members of the council as provided in paragraph (2) of subsection (b) of this Code section, the appointing authorities shall seek to identify and appoint persons who represent a diversity of backgrounds and experience and shall solicit suggestions from the State Bar of Georgia, state and local bar associations, the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the councils representing the various categories of state court judges in Georgia, and the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of the State of Georgia, as well as from the public and other interested organizations and individuals within this state. The appointing authorities shall not appoint a prosecuting attorney as defined in paragraph (6) of Code Section 19-13-51, any employee of a prosecuting attorney's office, or an employee of the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of the State of Georgia to serve on the council.
(d) This Code section shall become effective on July 1, 2003, for purposes of making the initial appointments to the council.