House Bill 1245

Chair's Name: David Ralston

Committee: Judiciary Non-Civil

House Sponsor: David Ralston

This legislation comes out of the Joint Study Committee on Indigent Defense . Also included are provisions recommended by the Special Committee on Judicial Inquiry.

Sections 1-3 add new language to provide that Senior Judges will not be appointed to preside in criminal cases where the death penalty may be imposed.

Sections 4-8 make it the responsibility of the Superior Court Clerk’s Cooperative Authority to collect and disburse funds paid to the clerk of court and sheriff for indigent defense funding. The funds currently go directly to the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council (GPDSC).

Sections 9-10 address bail and bond. When posting bail or bond the lesser of $100 or 10% of the amount of bail or bond will be added to the amount of bail/bond; current language is the lesser of $50.00 or 10% of the amount of bail. The sums collected from the bail add-ons will be paid over to the Superior Court Clerk’s Cooperative Authority and 50% will be deposited into the general treasury and the other 50% will go to the county where collected if that county has a procedure to verify indigency; if there is no procedure for verifying indigency the total amount will go to the general treasury.

Section 11 deletes existing language that provides that it is the intent of the General Assembly that certain funds are earmarked for the GPDSC.

Section 12 deals with the $50 application fee for defendants requesting indigent defense services.

Section 13 provides that the indigency standard for those accused of a misdemeanor will be 100% of the federal poverty guidelines, with a 125% standard for juveniles. 

Section 14 changes the make up of the GPDSC Council, adding an additional four (4) members for a total of 15.  The new members would all be appointed by the Governor and will be elected county commissioners from different geographic regions of the state.

Sections 15, 17, and 20 address accountability of funding by authorizing the state auditor to perform an annual audit which will include all expenditures made by GPDSC by revenue source; requiring GPDSC to account for all moneys received from the each governing authority and to prepare an annual report of funds received and expended including money received from cities and counties as well as a three year cost projection and anticipated revenues. Sections 31, 32, and 38 also deal with budget/funding issues.

Section 16 changes qualifications for the GPDSC Director, requiring seven years of experience in the practice of law – current law requires three years.  The Director will also provide assistance with death penalty cases and establish mental health and capital defender programs. This Section will also give the Director authority to evaluate the job performance of each Circuit Public Defender.

Section 18 removes the requirement that GPDSC promulgate standards, instead requiring that they post proposed rules and regulations for review including the date on which the rule or regulation takes effect.

Sections 19, 22, 35, and 37 adjust language to agree with other cross references in the bill

Section 21 relates to the Legislative Oversight Committee, removing language requiring the LOC to approve GPDSC standards and reducing the number of meetings per year from six to three.

Section 23 changes language relating to the mental health division of GPDSC bringing the division under the aegis of the Director instead of being its own department.

Sections 24-25 change language related to the capital defender program.  When there is a conflict of interest in a capital case the Director will appoint counsel and contract with the attorney for payment, when feasible using a flat fee structure – current law provides for the judge to appoint counsel and does not contain a fee structure. The payments for capital cases will be split between the state and the counties with the state paying the first $150,000, the next $100,000 will be split between the state and the county 75%/25%, any fees in excess of $250,000 will be split by the state and county 50%/50%. The council will establish guidelines for expense requests for fees, expenses, expert witnesses, travel and accommodations and other costs.

Section 26 changes the make-up of the local supervisory panels.

Section 27 allows a CPD to go to another circuit for help in a conflict case.

Section 28 requires that a defendant who requires the services of the public defender be seen by the PD within 72 hours.

Sections 29 and 39 address the role of indigent defense coordinators.

Sections 30, 33, and 34, provide for salary and cost-of-living increases for public defender, and other staffing issues.

Section 36 provides that alternative delivery systems will receive the same funds that opt-in circuits receive.

This committee substitute passed the House under the Modified Open Rule. 

Further Action

The House and Senate adopted a conferences committee report and the bill has been sent to the Governor.