CHAPTER 7. COUNTY PUBLIC DEFENDER BOARDS
IC 33-40-7
Chapter 7. County Public Defender Boards
IC 33-40-7-1
Applicability of chapter
Sec. 1. This chapter does not apply to a county that:
(1) contains a consolidated city;
(2) has a population of:
(A) more than three hundred thousand (300,000) but less
than four hundred thousand (400,000);
(B) more than two hundred thousand (200,000) but less than
three hundred thousand (300,000); or
(C) more than one hundred seventy thousand (170,000) but
less than one hundred eighty thousand (180,000); or
(3) has a population of more than four hundred thousand
(400,000) but less than seven hundred thousand (700,000),
except as provided in sections 5 and 11 of this chapter.
As added by P.L.98-2004, SEC.19.
IC 33-40-7-2
"Board" defined
Sec. 2. As used in this chapter, "board" refers to a board
established in an ordinance under section 3 of this chapter.
As added by P.L.98-2004, SEC.19.
IC 33-40-7-3
Establishment of board; members; terms; chairperson; meetings;
termination
Sec. 3. (a) A county executive may adopt an ordinance
establishing a county public defender board consisting of three (3)
members. The county executive shall appoint one (1) member. The
judges who exercise felony or juvenile jurisdiction in the county
shall appoint by majority vote the other two (2) members.
(b) The members appointed by the judges may not be from the
same political party. The members must be persons who have
demonstrated an interest in high quality legal representation for
indigent persons. However, a member may not be a city, town, or
county attorney, a law enforcement officer, a judge, or a court
employee.
(c) Each member of the board serves a three (3) year term
beginning with the date of the member's appointment. A member
appointed to fill a vacancy holds office for the remainder of the
previous member's term. If a successor has not been appointed by the
end of a member's three (3) year term, the member continues in
office until the member's successor takes office.
(d) The members shall, by a majority vote, elect one (1) member
to serve as chairperson.
(e) Meetings shall be held at least quarterly and may be held at
other times during the year at the call of the:
(1) chairperson; or
(2) other two (2) members.
(f) A county executive may terminate the board by giving at least
ninety (90) days written notice to the judges described in subsection
(a).
As added by P.L.98-2004, SEC.19.
IC 33-40-7-4
Reimbursement for expenses
Sec. 4. A member is entitled to reimbursement from the county for
traveling expenses and other expenses actually incurred in
connection with the member's duties to the same extent as is
provided to a state employee for traveling expenses and other
expenses under the state travel policies and procedures established
by the Indiana department of administration and approved by the
budget agency.
As added by P.L.98-2004, SEC.19.
IC 33-40-7-5
Comprehensive plan
Sec. 5. (a) The board shall prepare a comprehensive plan that
must include at least one (1) of the following methods of providing
legal defense services to indigent persons:
(1) Establishing a county public defender's office.
(2) Contracting with an attorney, a group of attorneys, or a
private organization.
(3) Using an assigned counsel system of panel attorneys for
case by case appointments under section 9 of this chapter.
(4) In a county described in section 1(3) of this chapter,
establishing a public defender's office for the criminal division
of the superior court.
(b) The plan prepared under subsection (a) shall be submitted to
the Indiana public defender commission.
As added by P.L.98-2004, SEC.19.
IC 33-40-7-6
Duties of board; term, removal, and qualifications of county public
defender
Sec. 6. (a) If a county public defender's office is established under
this chapter, the board shall do the following:
(1) Recommend to the county fiscal body an annual operating
budget for the county public defender's office.
(2) Appoint a county public defender.
(3) Submit an annual report to the county executive, the county
fiscal body, and the judges described in section 3 of this chapter
regarding the operation of the county public defender's office,
including information relating to caseloads and expenditures.
(b) A county public defender shall be appointed for a term not to
exceed four (4) years and may be reappointed. The county public
defender may be removed from office only upon a showing of good
cause. An attorney must be admitted to the practice of law in Indiana
for at least two (2) years before the attorney is eligible for
appointment as a county public defender.
As added by P.L.98-2004, SEC.19.
IC 33-40-7-7
Duties of county public defender
Sec. 7. A county public defender shall do the following:
(1) Maintain an office as approved by the board.
(2) Hire and supervise staff necessary to perform the services of
the office after the staff positions are recommended by the
board and approved by the county executive and the fiscal body.
(3) Keep and maintain records of all cases handled by the office
and report at least annually to the board and the Indiana public
defender commission concerning the operation of the office,
costs, and projected needs.
As added by P.L.98-2004, SEC.19.
IC 33-40-7-8
Contracts to provide legal representation
Sec. 8. (a) A county public defender may contract with an
attorney, a group of attorneys, or a private organization to provide
legal representation under this chapter.
(b) The board shall establish the provisions of the contract under
this section.
(c) The county fiscal body shall appropriate an amount sufficient
to meet the obligations of the contract.
As added by P.L.98-2004, SEC.19.
IC 33-40-7-9
Assigned counsel system
Sec. 9. The board may establish an assigned counsel system of
panel attorneys to provide legal representation under this chapter that
shall operate as follows:
(1) The board shall gather and maintain a list of attorneys
qualified to represent indigent defendants.
(2) Upon the determination by a court that a person is indigent
and entitled to legal representation at public expense, the court
shall appoint an attorney to provide the representation from the
list maintained by the board.
(3) An attorney appointed to provide representation under this
section may request authorization from the judge hearing the
case for expenditures for investigative services, expert
witnesses, or other services necessary to provide adequate legal
representation.
(4) An attorney appointed to provide representation under this
section is entitled to receive compensation and reimbursement
for budgeted expenses by submitting a voucher to the court.
Upon approval of the voucher by the appropriate judge, the
voucher shall be presented to the county auditor who shall
process the claim as other claims against county funds are
processed.
(5) An attorney appointed to provide representation under this
section shall, upon completion of representation, report to the
board information regarding the case disposition.
As added by P.L.98-2004, SEC.19.
IC 33-40-7-10
Court appointment of counsel or co-counsel
Sec. 10. (a) This chapter does not prevent a court from appointing
counsel other than counsel provided for under the board's plan for
providing defense services to an indigent person when the interests
of justice require. A court may also appoint counsel to assist counsel
provided for under the board's plan as co-counsel when the interests
of justice require. Expenditures by a county for defense services not
provided under the county public defender board's plan are not
subject to reimbursement from the public defense fund under
IC 33-40-6.
(b) A judge of a court having criminal jurisdiction may make a
written request to the state public defender to provide a qualified
attorney for the defense of a person charged in the court with a
criminal offense and eligible for representation at public expense if
the judge determines:
(1) that an attorney provided under the county public defender
board's plan is not qualified or available to represent the person;
or
(2) that in the interests of justice an attorney other than the
attorney provided for by the county defender board's plan
should be appointed.
The judge shall attach to the request a copy of the information or
indictment. Expenditures for representation under this subsection
shall be paid by the county according to a fee schedule approved by
the commission. These expenditures are eligible for reimbursement
from the public defense fund.
As added by P.L.98-2004, SEC.19.
IC 33-40-7-11
Expenditures; reimbursement
Sec. 11. (a) A county public defender board shall submit a written
request for reimbursement to the county auditor. The request must set
forth the total of the county's expenditures for indigent defense
services to the county auditor and may be limited in a county
described in section 1(3) of this chapter to expenditures for indigent
defense services provided by a particular division of a court. The
county auditor shall review the request and certify the total of the
county's expenditures for indigent defense services to the Indiana
public defender commission.
(b) Upon certification by the Indiana public defender commission
that the county's indigent defense services meet the commission's
standards, the auditor of state shall issue a warrant to the treasurer of
state for disbursement to the county of a sum equal to forty percent
(40%) of the county's certified expenditures for indigent defense
services provided in noncapital cases except misdemeanors.
(c) If a county's indigent defense services fail to meet the
standards adopted by the Indiana public defender commission, the
public defender commission shall notify the county public defender
board and the county fiscal body of the failure to comply with the
Indiana public defender commission's standards. Unless the county
public defender board corrects the deficiencies to comply with the
standards not more than ninety (90) days after the date of the notice,
the county's eligibility for reimbursement from the public defense
fund terminates at the close of that fiscal year.
As added by P.L.98-2004, SEC.19.
IC 33-40-7-12
Conflict of interest
Sec. 12. A county public defender, a contract attorney, or counsel
appointed by the court to provide legal defense services to indigent
persons may not be a partner or an employee at the same law firm
that employs the county's prosecuting attorney or a deputy
prosecuting attorney in a private capacity.
As added by P.L.98-2004, SEC.19.