| 1 | The Conference Committee on HB 1847 offered the following: |
| 2 |
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| 3 | Conference Committee Amendment (with title amendment) |
| 4 | Remove everything after the enacting clause and insert: |
| 5 | Section 1. Subsection (2) of section 27.701, Florida |
| 6 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 7 | 27.701 Capital collateral regional counsels.-- |
| 8 | (2) For the 2003-2004 fiscal year only and Notwithstanding |
| 9 | the provisions of subsection (1), the responsibilities of the |
| 10 | regional office of capital collateral counsel for the northern |
| 11 | region of the state shall be met through a pilot program using |
| 12 | only attorneys from the registry of attorneys maintained |
| 13 | pursuant to s. 27.710. Each attorney participating in the pilot |
| 14 | must be qualified to provide representation in federal court. |
| 15 | The Auditor General shall present a status report on the |
| 16 | implementation of the pilot program to the President of the |
| 17 | Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives by |
| 18 | February 27, 2004. The Auditor General shall also schedule a |
| 19 | performance review of the pilot program to determine the |
| 20 | effectiveness and efficiency of using attorneys from the |
| 21 | registry compared to the capital collateral regional counsels. |
| 22 | The review, at a minimum, shall include comparisons of the |
| 23 | timeliness and costs of the pilot and the counsels and shall be |
| 24 | submitted to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the |
| 25 | House of Representatives by January 30, 2007. The Legislature |
| 26 | may determine whether to convert the pilot program to a |
| 27 | permanent program after receipt of the Auditor General's review. |
| 28 | This subsection expires July 1, 2004. |
| 29 | Section 2. Paragraphs (a) and (c) of subsection (2) of |
| 30 | section 27.709, Florida Statutes, as amended by section 86 of |
| 31 | chapter 2003-399, Laws of Florida, are amended to read: |
| 32 | 27.709 Commission on Capital Cases.-- |
| 33 | (2)(a) The commission shall review the administration of |
| 34 | justice in capital collateral cases, receive relevant public |
| 35 | input, review the operation of the capital collateral regional |
| 36 | counsel and private counsel appointed pursuant to ss. 27.710 and |
| 37 | 27.711, and advise and make recommendations to the Governor, |
| 38 | Legislature, and Supreme Court. |
| 39 | (c) In addition, the commission shall receive complaints |
| 40 | regarding the practice of any office of regional counsel and |
| 41 | private counsel appointed pursuant to ss. 27.710 and 27.711 and |
| 42 | shall refer any complaint to The Florida Bar, the State Supreme |
| 43 | Court, or the Commission on Ethics, as appropriate. |
| 44 | Section 3. Subsections (3) and (9) of section 27.711, |
| 45 | Florida Statutes, as amended by section 88 of chapter 2003-399, |
| 46 | Laws of Florida, are amended, and subsection (14) is added to |
| 47 | that section, to read: |
| 48 | 27.711 Terms and conditions of appointment of attorneys |
| 49 | as counsel in postconviction capital collateral proceedings.-- |
| 50 | (3) An attorney appointed to represent a capital defendant |
| 51 | is entitled to payment of the fees set forth in this section |
| 52 | only upon full performance by the attorney of the duties |
| 53 | specified in this section and approval of payment by the trial |
| 54 | court, and the submission of a payment request by the attorney, |
| 55 | subject to the availability of sufficient funding specifically |
| 56 | appropriated for this purpose. An attorney may not be |
| 57 | compensated under this section for work performed by the |
| 58 | attorney before July 1, 2003, while employed by the northern |
| 59 | regional office of the capital collateral counsel. The Chief |
| 60 | Financial Officer shall notify the executive director and the |
| 61 | court if it appears that sufficient funding has not been |
| 62 | specifically appropriated for this purpose to pay any fees which |
| 63 | may be incurred. The attorney shall maintain appropriate |
| 64 | documentation, including a current and detailed hourly |
| 65 | accounting of time spent representing the capital defendant. The |
| 66 | fee and payment schedule in this section is the exclusive means |
| 67 | of compensating a court-appointed attorney who represents a |
| 68 | capital defendant. When appropriate, a court-appointed attorney |
| 69 | must seek further compensation from the Federal Government, as |
| 70 | provided in 18 U.S.C. s. 3006A or other federal law, in habeas |
| 71 | corpus litigation in the federal courts. |
| 72 | (9) An attorney may not represent more than five capital |
| 73 | defendants in capital postconviction litigation at any one time. |
| 74 | (14) Each attorney participating in the pilot program in |
| 75 | the northern region pursuant to s. 27.701(2), as a condition of |
| 76 | payment pursuant to this section, shall report on the |
| 77 | performance measures adopted by the Legislature for the capital |
| 78 | collateral regional counsels. |
| 79 | Section 4. Paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of section |
| 80 | 27.702, Florida Statutes, as amended by section 90 of chapter |
| 81 | 2003-399, Laws of Florida, is amended to read: |
| 82 | 27.702 Duties of the capital collateral regional counsel; |
| 83 | reports.-- |
| 84 | (4) |
| 85 | (b) Each capital collateral regional counsel and each |
| 86 | attorney participating in the pilot program in the northern |
| 87 | region pursuant to s. 27.701(2) shall provide a quarterly report |
| 88 | to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of |
| 89 | Representatives, and the Commission on Capital Cases which |
| 90 | details the number of hours worked by investigators and legal |
| 91 | counsel per case and the amounts per case expended during the |
| 92 | preceding quarter in investigating and litigating capital |
| 93 | collateral cases. |
| 94 | Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2004; or, if |
| 95 | this act fails to become a law until after that date, it shall |
| 96 | take effect upon becoming a law and shall operate retroactively |
| 97 | to July 1, 2004. |
| 98 |
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| 99 | ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================= |
| 100 | Remove the entire title and insert: |
| 101 | A bill to be entitled |
| 102 | An act relating to the capital collateral regional counsel; |
| 103 | amending s. 27.701, F.S.; extending the term of the capital |
| 104 | collateral regional counsel pilot program; providing for |
| 105 | legislative determination of converting the pilot program to a |
| 106 | permanent program after receipt of Auditor General's review; |
| 107 | deleting an expiration date; amending s. 27.709, F.S.; expanding |
| 108 | the jurisdiction of the Commission on Capital Cases; amending s. |
| 109 | 27.711, F.S.; providing for compensation of counsel in the pilot |
| 110 | program; providing for limitations on such counsel; amending s. |
| 111 | 27.702, F.S.; requiring reports from attorneys participating in |
| 112 | the pilot program; providing an effective date. |