Notice of Publication

Pursuant to § 2.3 (1) of the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council (Standards Council) Bylaws, the Standards Council at its meeting on June 23, 2006 authorized the publication of this notice of its intention to adopt the Performance Standards for Criminal Defense Investigators in Indigent Criminal Cases described below. 

The Standards are intended to alert investigators assigned to assist in the defense of indigent defendants to courses of action that may be necessary, advisable, or appropriate, and thereby to assist the investigators in deciding upon the particular actions that should be taken in each case to ensure that the client receives the best representation possible.  The Standards are also intended to provide a measure by which the Standards Council can evaluate the performance of individual attorneys and circuit public defender offices, and to assist the Standards Council in training and supervising criminal defense investigators.  The main features of the Standards consist of general principles and best practices.

The Standards that were published with the June notice of publication have been subsequently revised.  The Standards Council will consider the Standards that are published with this notice for adoption at its next scheduled meeting on December 1, 2006 at 10:00 AM at the office of the Standards Council (Suite 200, 104 Marietta Street, Atlanta, GA 30303).  These Standards are to be adopted under the authority of O.C.G.A. § 17-12-8 (b) (6).  Comments concerning these Standards shall be submitted in writing addressed to Mike Mears, Director of the Standards Council at the above stated address.  A person may request in writing to be placed on the mailing list for future notices of the intention of the Standards Council to adopt a standard.  The request shall be sent to Cindy Wang at the Standards Council at the above stated address.

Published November 1, 2006

Cindy Wang
General Counsel