Frequently Asked Questions:

The following is a compilation of the most frequently asked questions with answers by the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council staff:

• What is the new system?
• When does it start?
• Why do we need to do this?
• What is the responsibility of local governments?
• What should we be doing now?
• What are the possibilities for hiring current staff? Would they become state employees? Is it possible to contract with the county for these services?
• Why are the circuit public defenders being hired July 1, 2004 ?
• Is there any guidance on location of the main office? Satellites in all other counties?
• Who will provide vehicles? How will maintenance be performed?
• Will circuit public defenders begin handling cases on January 1, 2005 ?
• Is there oversight of this new program?
• How will this new system be funded?
• What will the contract between the Standards Council and the local government contain?
• Where can we go for help?

• What is the new system?

During the 2003 Session of the General Assembly, the legislature passed the Georgia Indigent Defense Act of 2003 that created the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council and made the Standards Council responsible for the operation of the system for providing representation for indigents in criminal cases in all courts in Georgia. This system envisioned a partnership between the State government and local governments. The State provides a circuit public defender office in each of the 49 judicial circuits in Georgia and staffs it with 1 attorney for each superior court judge and with 2 administrative positions and 1 investigator. These offices provide representation in the superior court and in the juvenile court (delinquency proceedings only). The counties in the circuit provide the office space and pay the costs for the operation of the office. Local governments remain responsible for indigent defense representation as well. The Standards Council establishes standards for the operation of all indigent defense programs.

• When does it start?

The Standards Council is in place and has adopted some standards. Circuit public defenders selected by selection panels composed of local members are being selected. The circuit pubic defender offices will be open for business January 1, 2005 .

• Why do we need to do this?

In the 1963 case of Gideon v. Wainwright, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the U.S. Constitution requires appointment of counsel for defendants in criminal cases who cannot afford to hire an attorney. In the recent case Alabama v. Shelton, the U.S. Supreme Court held that this requirement applies to all cases where there is a possibility of incarceration.

After 2 years of study, the GA Supreme Court Chief Justice's Commission on Indigent Defense issued its report in December 2002. The Commission determined that the State of Georgia is not providing adequate funding to fulfill the constitutional mandate that all citizens have effective assistance of counsel available when charged with a crime, and that Georgia lacks a statewide system of accountability and oversight to provide constitutionally adequate assistance of counsel for indigent defendants. The legislature passed and the Governor signed the Georgia Indigent Defense Act of 2003 to address these problems. At the 2004 Session, $22.09 million was appropriated to fund the new system for the first 9 months.

• What is the responsibility of local governments?

The governing authorities of the counties in each judicial circuit are responsible for providing, in conjunction and cooperation with the other counties in the judicial circuit and in a pro rata share according to the population of each county, appropriate offices, utilities, telephone expenses, materials and supplies as may be necessary to equip, maintain, and furnish the office or offices of the circuit public defender in an orderly and efficient manner. [O.C.G.A. § 17-12-34 ].

It is a responsibility of the circuit public defender (who should be selected by the local selection panel and employed by Standards Council by July 1 st ) to assist the counties in coordinating the counties' efforts to meet the requirements of the law. The Standards Council staff is also available to assist. The staff has budget and case load data for each circuit. Coordination is also necessary in dividing the budgetary responsibilities among the counties. Although the statute requires determining pro rata share according to population, a more efficient way may be to use percentage of indigent caseload.

Costs of the indigent defense system not covered by the State program include the cost of deprivation cases in juvenile court, indigent defense services in state, magistrate, probate, municipal, recorders and other courts, salary supplements and additional personnel in superior and juvenile courts. As long as a local government maintains its budget for indigent defense representation at the current level, Standards Council will work with the counties to implement the system with no additional cost to the local government. In addition, the circuit public defender may contract with the local governments involved to provide services in state, magistrate, probate, municipal, recorders and other courts.

• What should we be doing now?

Counties should be working with the circuit public defender to get the office open and operational on January 1, 2005 and should be in negotiation with the circuit public defender to see if the circuit public defender office can contract to provide additional services to the county in addressing the requirements for indigent defense representation.

•  What are the possibilities for hiring current staff? Would they become state employees? Is it possible to contract with the county for these services?

The circuit public defender should be hired by July 1, 2004. The circuit public defender will then be able to hire 1 administrative person. The remaining staff members will come on board on January 1, 2005.

Only the full-time state-paid staff members will be considered state employees; however, the counties may contract with the Standards Council for additional personnel who would be considered state employees; and in return, the counties will reimburse the Standards Council for personnel costs plus a 10% administrative charge. This administrative charge would take care of training, mileage, computer costs, investigative expenses, fiscal services, payroll and benefits support, and other support costs.

Regarding the lower courts, a local government has the option of maintaining its own staff or contracting with the circuit public defender to handle the lower courts' caseload. Additional personnel may be required to handle the caseloads.

•  Why are the circuit public defenders being hired July 1, 2004 ?

The circuit public defenders are being hired 6 months early to allow them to have ample time to work with the county officials to locate office space, recruit, interview, and select personnel; so that, the office will be fully operational on January 1, 2005.

•  Is there any guidance on location of the main office? Satellites in all other counties?

The location of the offices is up to the counties. One suggestion is to place the primary circuit defender office in the same county as the district attorney's office unless the counties involved agree otherwise. The main office does not have to be in the courthouse; however, it should be within proximity to the courthouse or the jail facility.

As for satellite offices, because the attorney must see the client within 72 hours of arrest, there should be satellite offices within reasonable distance from each jail facility.

•  Who will provide vehicles? How will maintenance be performed?

The State will not provide for vehicles. The counties may provide and maintain the vehicles. The State will reimburse mileage for state-paid attorneys and investigators effective January 1, 2005 . If the counties choose to contract with the Standards Council for additional personnel, mileage will be included in the 10% administrative charge.

•  Will circuit public defenders begin handling cases on January 1, 2005 ?

Yes, they will be ready to handle cases on January 1, 2005. A procedure should be developed to handle interim cases. It may be necessary, depending on the caseload, for attorneys who are currently handling ongoing cases to keep those cases and for the public defenders to be assigned the new cases.

•  Is there oversight of this new program?

During the 2004 Special Session, the General Assembly passed H.B. 1EX that provided funding sources from increased court fees and fines for the new State indigent defense system and revised the Georgia Indigent Defense Act of 2003. H.B. 1EX creates a legislative oversight committee to monitor the operations of the Standards Council, requires a standard adopted by the Standards Council that has fiscal impact be ratified by law before the standard is effective, allows the Governor to analyze the budget for the Standards Council, and limits the amount of funds that the Standards Council can request in its budget submission to the funds collected from the new funding sources .

•  How will this new system be funded?

H.B. 1 EX of the 2004 Session of the General Assembly provides for the funding of the State's portion of the cost of indigent criminal defense. An additional surcharge of 10% on fines and a surcharge of 10% up to $50 on criminal bonds are imposed to fund indigent defense. The 10% surcharge on fines for ordinance violations only applies to fines for the violation of criminal ordinances. In addition a $15 fee on all civil filings and a $50 application fee for applicants for indigent defense services are imposed to fund indigent defense. These fees are collected by the Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority. The provision regarding application fees allows lower courts to retain the application fee.

•  What will the contract between the Standards Council and the local government contain?

The Standards Council is working with the Association County Commissioners of Georgia, the Georgia Municipal Association and others on developing a form contract that will be a model to be used.

•  Where can we go for help?

The Standards Council staff wants to help and can be reached at (404) 232- 8900.

The primary contacts are as follows:

Michael Mears
Director

Sarah Haskin
Deputy Director
Government Relations & Fiscal Affairs

Susan Teaster
Interim Chief Legal Officer

Cindy Wang
Deputy Chief Legal Officer

Becky Chase
Circuit Defender Office Coordinator