Rule 294-1-.01. Local Indigent Defense Assistance Grant Program

(1) Statutory Basis for Grant Program. The Georgia Indigent Defense Act, O.C.G.A. 17-12-30, states that the Georgia Indigent Defense Council shall "administer funds provided by the state and federal governments to support local indigent defense programs provided for in Code Section 17-12-38." (2) General Scope and Purpose of the Grant Program. The general scope and purpose of the grant program is to provide financial assistance to local indigent defense programs that comply with the Georgia Indigent Defense Act, O.C.G.A. 17-12-30, et seq., and the Guidelines of the Georgia Indigent Defense Council promulgated pursuant to O.C.G.A. 17-12-41 and approved and adopted by the Supreme Court of Georgia. (3) General Terms and Conditions of the Grant. The general terms and conditions of the grant are: (a) the creation of a local tripartite governing committee pursuant to O.C.G.A. 17-12-37; (b) the submission to the Council of a completed Application Form; (c) the implementation and management of the local indigent defense program by the local governing committee pursuant to the requirements of the Georgia Indigent Defense Act, O.C.G.A. 17-12-30, and the Council's Guidelines approved and adopted by the Supreme Court of Georgia. (4) The local indigent defense program managed by the committee shall provide for: (a) the independence of counsel; (b) reasonable early entry by counsel into a case; (c) a procedure to determine whether or not persons seeking assistance are eligible as indigents; (d) a procedure for determining that attorneys representing indigents are competent in the practice of criminal law; (e) a rate of compensation and schedule of allowable expenses to be paid for indigent defense services. (5) Eligible Recipients of the Grant. The eligible recipients of the grant are local indigent defense programs established pursuant to O.C.G.A. 17-12-38. (6) Criteria for the Award of the Grant. The criteria for the award of the grant are the distribution of funds on an equitable basis, based on judicial administrative district and judicial circuit population, indigent criminal caseloads, and previous years expenditures for the provision of defense services at the local level. O.C.G.A. 17-12-36(b). (7) 1993 Application for Funds. The following is a copy of the Georgia Indigent Defense Council's 1993 Application for Funds. 1993 APPLICATION FOR FUNDS INDIGENT DEFENSE COMMITTEE CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE WITH COUNCIL GUIDELINES The undersigned, Chairperson and members of the local indigent defense committee of________________ County, certify that the information contained herein is true and correct and that the Committee will operate the Local Indigent Defense Program within the Guidelines of the Georgia Indigent Defense Council. This _____ day of ____________________, 1993. (1) SIGNATURE IDC Chairperson _________________________ _______________ ___________________________ ______________ Type/Print NAME ADDRESS TELEPHONE Year Appointed ___ By (circle one) Chief Judge County Comm. Bar Assoc. (2) SIGNATURE Member _______________________________ _______________ ___________________________ ______________ Type/Print NAME ADDRESS TELEPHONE Year Appointed ___ By (circle one) Chief Judge County Comm. Bar Assoc. (3) SIGNATURE Member _______________________________ _______________ ___________________________ ______________ Type/Print NAME ADDRESS TELEPHONE Year Appointed ___ By (circle one) Chief Judge County Comm. Bar Assoc. _____________________________________________________________ COUNTY COMMISSION This application is approved on behalf of the County, which agrees to operate the local Indigent Defense Program within the Guidelines of the Georgia Indigent Defense Council, by: _______________ ________________________________________ Type/Print NAME SIGNATURE Chair, County Commission If there are more than 3 members on the Indigent Defense Committee, please make additional copies of the Certification page for signatures. I. INDIGENT CASELOAD FOR CALENDAR YEAR 1992 Please indicate below the number of CASESopened in this county in the CALENDAR YEAR 1992. ONE CASE is a single indigent defendant charged with one or more counts arising out of a single event or incident. PUBLIC DEFENDER programs employ full-time salaried attorneys to handle indigent cases exclusively. APPOINTED ATTORNEY programs are ones in which private attorneys receive appointments, and paid per case. CONTRACT DEFENDER programs are ones in which private attorneys contract with the county to provide indigent defense for a certain period of time. TYPE CASE NUMBER OF INDIGENT CASES BY PROGRAM FOR 1992 Public Appt Contr Defender Attorney Defender TOTAL Felony ________ ________ ________ ________ Misdemeanor ________ ________ ________ ________ Juvenile ________ ________ ________ ________ Prob Revoc ________ ________ ________ ________ Appeals ________ ________ ________ ________ Other ________ ________ ________ ________ TOTAL ________ ________ ________ ________ II. 1992 EXPENDITURES FOR INDIGENT DEFENSE List all indigent defense expenditures directly related to provision of indigent defense in Superior, State, or Juvenile Courts. Include: Salaries of public defenders, yearly contract fees of contract attorneys, total expenditures for appointed attorneys, expenses for defense experts and investigations, administrative costs of providing indigent defense. DO NOT INCLUDE: Costs of jailing indigent defendants, Court-appointed counsel in civil or probate matters, Representation of Unruly or Deprived Children, Transcripts, or other related court costs. 1992 EXPENDITURES Public Defender Contract Defender Appointed Atty TOTAL $______________ $________________ $_____________ $______ III. PUBLIC DEFENDER PROGRAM If your county has a Public Defender Program, answer the following: PUBLIC DEFENDER: __________ TELEPHONE: (__)___ FAX: (__)___ ADDRESS: __________________________________________________ Number of Full-time attorneys __________ Number of Part-time attorneys __________ Number of Investigators/paralegals __________ Number of Administrative Staff __________ Does the program undertake representation in death penalty cases? YES/ NO Have attorneys from your office attended seminars sponsored by the GIDC? YES/ NO If YES, how many seminars? __________ What is average caseload per attorney? __________ Does the program specify caseload limits for attorneys? YES/ NO If YES, what is the caseload limit? __________ If NO, on a separate page, describe what procedures are used to prevent excessive caseloads (See Guideline 6.1) from interfering with the quality of representation. Are the salaries of assistant Public Defenders comparable to those of assistant District Attorneys? YES/ NO If NO, by how much do they differ? $_________ Does the Public Defender have a contract? YES/ NO If YES, attach a copy of this contract. Does the local indigent defense committee select the Public Defender, per Guideline 2.3? YES/ NO Does the local indigent defense committee observe the Public Defender's performance, per Guideline 3.1? YES/ NO IV. CONTRACT DEFENDER PROGRAM If your county maintains a Contract Defender Program, answer the following questions and those in Section V. Number of contract defenders _______ Number of cases per contract defender _______ Are there any caseload limits for contract defenders? YES NO If YES, what is the limit? _______ Do Contract Defenders attend seminars sponsored by the GIDC? YES NO Do Contract Defenders undertake representation in death penalty cases? YES NO If YES, are they paid hourly for the representation? YES NO If YES, what hourly fees are paid in cases where the death penalty is sought? $______ Does the local indigent defense committee select the Contract Defenders, per Guideline 2.7? YES NO Does the local indigent defense committee observe the Contract Defender's performance, per Guideline 3.1? YES NO On a separate page, attach a list of all contract attorneys & attach copies of any contracts. __________________ V. APPOINTED ATTORNEY PROGRAM Answer these questions even if appointed attorneys are used only for conflict cases. Please attach a list of attorneys on your panel. This list will be used to disseminate information about upcoming seminars. Do you have a panel or list of attorneys to receive appointments? YES NO Number of attorneys on the list _______ Average yearly caseload per appointed atty. _______ What in-court hourly rates are paid? $______ What out-of-court hourly rates are paid? $______ Does the program specify maximum fees for Certain types of cases? YES NO If YES, do they meet Guideline 2.6 of not less than $500 for misdemeanors, $1,000 for non-capital felonies, and $2,500 for capital felonies where the death penalty is NOT sought? YES NO If NO, attach a copy of the maximum fee guideline which your program currently uses. Guideline 2.6 prohibits the setting of maximum fees in capital felony cases where the death penalty is sought. Does your program have maximum fees for death penalty cases? YES NO If YES, attach a copy of the maximum fee guideline which your program currently uses for death penalty cases. What hourly fees arc paid in cases where the death penalty is sought? $______ Who approves fee requests from appointed attorneys? Specify below - Indigent Defense Committee, Trial Judge, Administrator, Other: NAME ____________________________ TITLE ____________ __________________ V(a). Selection of Appointed Attorneys (CIRCLE any YES or NO Answers) Do you require appointed attorneys to have a certain amount of experience before they can receive appointments? YES NO Are cases assigned based on the complexity of the case and/or the experience of the attorney? YES NO Is participation by private attorneys in the indigent defense program, voluntary or mandatory: VOLUNTARY MANDATORY Does the Indigent Defense Committee select attorneys for the panel? YES NO If NO, who makes the selection? NAME ________________________ TITLE ______________ Are attorneys appointed on a rotating basis? YES NO Are appointed attorneys informed about GIDC sponsored seminars? YES NO Does your program have Standards of Performance and Conduct for appointed attorneys [see Guideline 2.5]? YES NO If YES, please attach any written guidelines or descriptions of your appointed attorney program. __________________ VI. APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL AND ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATION Does the program appoint counsel within 72 hours of arrest for in-custody defendants as required by Guideline 1.3? YES NO Do you require Indigency Affidavits to be completed by defendants? YES NO When are defendants provided with Indigency Affidavits? _____________________________________ (At booking, initial appearance before magistrate, first day in jail, other) How many hours/days after arrest? ____ hours ____ days Who notifies defendants of their right to an appointed attorney? NAME ________________________ TITLE ______________ Who provides defendants with Indigency Affidavits? NAME ________________________ TITLE ______________ Who reviews Indigency Affidavits to determine whether a defendant is eligible for an appointed attorney? NAME ________________________ TITLE ______________ Who does the appointing/selecting of attorneys? NAME ________________________ TITLE ______________ Do you follow Guideline 1.5 which establishes eligibility for defendants with net monthly income of $500 or less (with an additional $170 for each dependent)? YES NO If NO, please attach the eligibility schedule in use in your County. Does your program require the appointed attorney, public defender or contract attorney to contact the defendant within a certain time after appointment? YES NO If YES, within what time-frame must the appointed attorney visit each new defendant? __________ When is indigency determined for defendants on bond? _______________________________________ Who makes determination? NAME ___________ TITLE ___________ VII. RECOVERY OF COSTS OF REPRESENTATION FROM DEFENDANTS (CIRCLE any YES or NO Answers) Does your program make any effort to recover costs of representation from defendants? YES NO If YES, how much did your program collect in Calendar Year 1992? $______ Does your program collect costs pretrial from defendants? YES NO Does the court order as a condition of probation that costs for representation be paid? YES NO VIII. DEATH PENALTY CASES - CALENDAR YEAR 1992 Indicate the total number of death penalty cases currently pending in the county as of the date of this application _______ Indicate the total number of INDIGENT cases in which: (a) the death penalty was sought in 1992. _______ (b) the death penalty was obtained in 1992. _______ If available, indicate the total indigent defense expenditures for death penalty cases in 1992. $______ Who assigns attorneys to death penalty cases? NAME ______________________ TITLE____________ Who determines which attorneys are qualified for death penalty appointments? NAME ______________________ TITLE____________ What criteria, if any, does your county have for selecting attorneys to handle death penalty cases? ________________________________________________ Cite as Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 294-1-.01
Authority: O.C.G.A. Sec. 28-5-120.
History. Original grant description entitled "Local Indigent Defense Assistance Grant Program" submitted December 21, 1993.