| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to public defenders and other court- |
| 3 | appointed counsel; amending s. 27.42, F.S.; requiring a |
| 4 | designee from the office of the public defender to serve |
| 5 | as chair of the indigent services committee in each |
| 6 | judicial circuit; requiring the public defender to appoint |
| 7 | one private criminal defense attorney and one civil trial |
| 8 | attorney to serve specified terms of office on the |
| 9 | committee; authorizing the committee to include agreements |
| 10 | for cross-circuit conflict representation as part of any |
| 11 | alternate models for the provision of criminal and civil |
| 12 | due process services and representation of indigents; |
| 13 | requiring the Justice Administrative Commission to review |
| 14 | such agreements and to transfer funds for the purpose of |
| 15 | tracking and reporting expenditures; providing an |
| 16 | effective date. |
| 17 |
|
| 18 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 19 |
|
| 20 | Section 1. Subsections (1) and (3) of section 27.42, |
| 21 | Florida Statutes, are amended to read: |
| 22 | 27.42 Circuit Article V indigent services committees; |
| 23 | composition; staff; responsibilities; funding.-- |
| 24 | (1) In each judicial circuit a circuit Article V indigent |
| 25 | services committee shall be established. The committee shall |
| 26 | consist of the following: |
| 27 | (a) The chief judge of the judicial circuit or the chief |
| 28 | judge's designee, who shall serve as the chair. |
| 29 | (a)(b) The public defender of the judicial circuit, or |
| 30 | designee from within the office of the public defender, who |
| 31 | shall serve as chair. |
| 32 | (b)(c) One experienced private criminal defense attorney |
| 33 | appointed by the public defender, chief judge to serve a 2-year |
| 34 | term with the first such appointment occurring at the end of the |
| 35 | 2-year term of any attorney appointed by the chief judge or if a |
| 36 | vacancy occurs before the end of that 2-year term. During the 2- |
| 37 | year term, the attorney is prohibited from serving as court- |
| 38 | appointed counsel. |
| 39 | (c)(d) One experienced civil trial attorney appointed by |
| 40 | the public defender chief judge, to serve a 2-year term with the |
| 41 | first such appointment occurring at the end of the 2-year term |
| 42 | of any attorney appointed by the chief judge or if a vacancy |
| 43 | occurs before the end of that 2-year term. During the 2-year |
| 44 | term, the attorney is prohibited from serving as court-appointed |
| 45 | counsel. |
| 46 | (3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a |
| 47 | circuit Article V indigent services committee may approve, and |
| 48 | the Justice Administrative Commission shall investigate and |
| 49 | evaluate the use of funds for, alternate models for the |
| 50 | provision of criminal and civil due process services and |
| 51 | representation other than a model based on a per-case fee if a |
| 52 | more cost-effective and efficient system can be provided. An |
| 53 | alternate model may include court reporting services, and the |
| 54 | provision of court-appointed counsel, and agreements between two |
| 55 | or more circuit public defenders for cross-circuit conflict |
| 56 | representation. The Justice Administrative Commission shall |
| 57 | review these agreements and transfer funds allocated for |
| 58 | indigent services as required by these agreements to |
| 59 | appropriately track and report expenditures. |
| 60 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007. |