The Florida Senate

27.709  Commission on Capital Cases.--

(1)(a)  There is created the Commission on Capital Cases, which shall consist of the six following members:

1.  Two members appointed by the Governor.

2.  Two members appointed by the President of the Senate from the membership of the Senate. One member shall be a member of the majority party, and one member shall be a member of the minority party.

3.  Two members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives from the membership of the House of Representatives. One member shall be a member of the majority party, and one member shall be a member of the minority party.

(b)  The chair of the commission shall be selected by the members for a term of 1 year.

(c)  The commission shall meet quarterly, and other meetings may be called by the chair upon giving at least 7 days' notice to all members and the public.

(d)  Members of the commission are entitled to per diem and travel expenses to be paid by the appointing entity.

(e)  Members of the commission shall be appointed to serve terms of 4 years each, except that a member's term shall expire upon leaving office as a member of the Senate or the House of Representatives.

(f)  The Office of Legislative Services shall provide staff support for the commission.

(2)(a)  The commission shall review the administration of justice in capital collateral cases, receive relevant public input, review the operation of the capital collateral regional counsel and private counsel appointed pursuant to ss. 27.710 and 27.711, and advise and make recommendations to the Governor, Legislature, and Supreme Court.

(b)  As part of its duties, the commission shall compile and analyze case-tracking reports produced by the Supreme Court. In analyzing these reports, the commission shall develop statistics to identify trends and changes in case management and case processing, identify and evaluate unproductive points of delay, and generally evaluate the way cases are progressing. The commission shall report these findings to the Legislature by January 1 of each year.

(c)  In addition, the commission shall receive complaints regarding the practice of any office of regional counsel and private counsel appointed pursuant to ss. 27.710 and 27.711 and shall refer any complaint to The Florida Bar, the State Supreme Court, or the Commission on Ethics, as appropriate.

History.--s. 9, ch. 97-313; s. 22, ch. 98-136; s. 12, ch. 98-417; s. 3, ch. 99-221; s. 15, ch. 2000-3; s. 8, ch. 2000-158; s. 13, ch. 2002-1; ss. 85, 86, ch. 2003-399; s. 2, ch. 2004-240; ss. 64, 65, 76, ch. 2004-269.