Senate Bill sb1086c1

    Florida Senate - 2007                           CS for SB 1086

    By the Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations;
    and Senator Crist




    604-2229-07

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to the capital collateral

  3         regional counsel; amending s. 27.701, F.S.;

  4         deleting provisions providing for a pilot

  5         program in the northern region of the state to

  6         operate the office of the capital collateral

  7         regional counsel; providing an effective date.

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  9  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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11         Section 1.  Section 27.701, Florida Statutes, is

12  amended to read:

13         27.701  Capital collateral regional counsel.--

14         (1)  There are created three regional offices of

15  capital collateral counsel, which shall be located in a

16  northern, middle, and southern region of the state. The

17  northern region shall consist of the First, Second, Third,

18  Fourth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Judicial Circuits; the middle

19  region shall consist of the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth,

20  Tenth, Twelfth, Thirteenth, and Eighteenth Judicial Circuits;

21  and the southern region shall consist of the Eleventh,

22  Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth

23  Judicial Circuits. Each regional office shall be administered

24  by a regional counsel. A regional counsel must be, and must

25  have been for the preceding 5 years, a member in good standing

26  of The Florida Bar or a similar organization in another state.

27  Each capital collateral regional counsel shall be appointed by

28  the Governor, and is subject to confirmation by the Senate.

29  The Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission shall

30  recommend to the Governor three qualified candidates for each

31  appointment as regional counsel. The Governor shall appoint a

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 2007                           CS for SB 1086
    604-2229-07




 1  regional counsel for each region from among the

 2  recommendations, or, if it is in the best interest of the fair

 3  administration of justice in capital cases, the Governor may

 4  reject the nominations and request submission of three new

 5  nominees by the Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission.

 6  Each capital collateral regional counsel shall be appointed to

 7  a term of 3 years. Vacancies in the office of capital

 8  collateral regional counsel shall be filled in the same manner

 9  as appointments. A person appointed as a regional counsel may

10  not run for or accept appointment to any state office for 2

11  years following vacation of office.

12         (2)  Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1),

13  the responsibilities of the regional office of capital

14  collateral counsel for the northern region of the state shall

15  be met through a pilot program using only attorneys from the

16  registry of attorneys maintained pursuant to s. 27.710. Each

17  attorney participating in the pilot must be qualified to

18  provide representation in federal court. The Auditor General

19  shall schedule a performance review of the pilot program to

20  determine the effectiveness and efficiency of using attorneys

21  from the registry compared to the capital collateral regional

22  counsel. The review, at a minimum, shall include comparisons

23  of the timeliness and costs of the pilot and the counsel and

24  shall be submitted to the President of the Senate and the

25  Speaker of the House of Representatives by January 30, 2007.

26  The Legislature may determine whether to convert the pilot

27  program to a permanent program after receipt of the Auditor

28  General's review.

29         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2007.

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    Florida Senate - 2007                           CS for SB 1086
    604-2229-07




 1          STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
                       COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
 2                         Senate Bill 1086

 3                                 

 4  The bill amends section 27.01, F.S., to delete provisions for
    a three-year pilot project to deliver capital collateral legal
 5  services through a registry of private attorneys in the
    northern region. By striking this paragraph, the northern
 6  office of the Capital Collateral Regional Counsel is restored.

 7  The bill would become effective July 1, 2007.

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.