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1 **** BILL NO. ****
2 INTRODUCED BY ****
3 BY REQUEST OF THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC DEFENDER
4
5 A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: “AN ACT GENERALLY REVISING LAWS RELATED TO THE OFFICE OF
6 STATE PUBLIC DEFENDER; CREATING A DISTINCTION BETWEEN CONFLICT AND NON-CONFLICT
7 NONCONFLICT REGIONAL OFFICES; REVISING THE DUTIES OF THE DIRECTOR, THE CONFLICT
8 DEFENDER DIVISION ADMINISTRATOR, THE APPELLATE DEFENDER DIVISION ADMINISTRATOR, AND
9 THE CENTRAL SERVICES DIVISION ADMINISTRATOR; REMOVING THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE
10 DIRECTOR TO ESTABLISH STANDARDS SPECIFIC TO CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT MATTERS;
11 REVISING THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE CENTRAL SERVICES DIVISION TO INCLUDE
12 REQUIREMENTS FOR MANAGING CONTRACTED SERVICES AND AGENCY TRAINING EFFORTS;
13 CLARIFYING PROVIDING REPORTING REQUIREMENTS; REVISING TITLES OF DIVISION PERSONNEL
14 TO INCLUDE REGIONAL PUBLIC DEFENDERS AND MANAGING PUBLIC DEFENDERS; AMENDING
15 SECTIONS 18-4-132, 47-1-104, 47-1-105, 47-1-119, 47-1-125, 47-1-201, 47-1-202, 47-1-215, 47-1-301, AND
16 47-1-401, MCA; AND REPEALING SECTIONS 47-1-120 AND 47-1-121, MCA.”
17
18 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
19
20 NEW SECTION. Section 1. Conflict public defender division administrator -- duties. (1) In Commented [HB1]: Sara: Can the “by request of”
subject line be adjusted on your end to read “the office
21 addition to the duties provided for in 47-1-401 and subject to approval by the director, the conflict defender of state public defender”? Please let me know if not.
22 division administrator shall:
Commented [SH2]: No, it doesn’t look like it. They’re
23 (a) develop and implement a regional strategic plan for the delivery of conflict public defender named that way in the system, weird that it doesn’t
show on the bill the same way.
24 services;
Commented [HB3]: Sara: Is “public” needed in
25 (b) ensure that administrative management procedures for conflict regional offices are consistent “conflict public defender division administrator”? It is not
included in 47-1-401. If it is needed, we will need to
26 with the policies and procedures provided by the central services division established in 47-1-119; adjust the wording in the title and throughout this draft
for consistency.
27 (c) establish procedures for managing caseloads and assigning cases in a manner that ensures
28 that conflict public defenders are assigned cases according to experience, training, and manageable caseloads
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1 and taking into account case complexity, the severity of charges and potential punishments, and the legal skills
2 required to provide effective assistance of counsel;
3 (d) establish policies and procedures for assigning counsel in capital cases that are consistent with
4 standards issued by the Montana supreme court for counsel for indigent persons in capital cases;
5 (e) work with the central services division to establish and supervise a training and performance
6 evaluation program for attorneys and non-attorney nonattorney staff members and contractors;
7 (f) work with the central services division to establish procedures to handle complaints about
8 conflict public defender performance; and
9 (g) perform all other duties assigned by the director pursuant to this chapter.
10 (2) The conflict public defender division administrator may not maintain a client caseload.
11
12 NEW SECTION. Section 2. Conflict regional offices -- conflict regional public defenders. (1) The
13 conflict defender division administrator may, with the approval of the director, hire, assign, and supervise a
14 conflict regional public defender to manage and supervise each conflict regional office in the conflict defender Commented [HB4]: Sara: Should this read “conflict
public defender division” instead?
15 division established pursuant to 47-1-104(2).
16 (2) Subject to approval by the conflict defender division administrator, each regional conflict
17 regional public defender shall:
18 (a) manage and supervise all conflict public defender services provided within the conflict regional
19 public defender's assigned region;
20 (b) establish protocols so that when a court orders the assignment of counsel, the assignment is
21 made promptly to an appropriate public defender and so that a conflict public defender is immediately available
22 when necessary;
23 (c) ensure that conflict public defender assignments within the region comply with the provisions of
24 47-1-202(1)(c);
25 (d) hire and supervise the work of conflict regional office personnel as authorized by the conflict
26 defender division administrator;
27 (e) coordinate with the central services division to contract for necessary conflict public defender
28 services;
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1 (f) implement the standards and procedures established by the director and the conflict defender
2 division administrator for the region;
3 (g) perform all other duties as assigned by the conflict defender division administrator.
4
5 NEW SECTION. Section 3. Appellate defender division administrator -- duties. (1) In addition to
6 the duties provided in 47-1-301 and subject to approval by the director, the appellate defender division
7 administrator shall:
8 (a) develop and implement a strategic plan for the delivery of appellate public defender services;
9 (b) ensure that administrative management procedures for appellate offices are consistent with the
10 policies and procedures provided by the central services division established in 47-1-119;
11 (c) establish procedures for managing caseloads and assigning cases in a manner that ensures
12 that appellate public defenders are assigned cases according to experience, training, and manageable
13 caseloads and taking into account case complexity, the severity of charges and potential punishments, and the
14 legal skills required to provide effective assistance of counsel;
15 (d) establish policies and procedures for assigning counsel in capital cases that are consistent with
16 standards issued by the Montana supreme court for counsel for indigent persons in capital cases;
17 (e) work with the central services division to establish and supervise a training and performance
18 evaluation program for attorneys and non-attorney nonattorney staff members and contractors;
19 (f) work with the central services division to establish procedures to handle complaints about
20 appellate public defender performance; and
21 (g) perform all other duties assigned by the director pursuant to this chapter.
22 (2) The appellate public defender division administrator may maintain a minimum client caseload Commented [HB5]: Sara: Is “public” needed in
“appellate public defender division administrator”? It is
23 as determined by the director. not included in 47-1-301. If it is needed, we will need to
adjust the wording in the title and throughout this draft
24 for consistency.
25 Section 4. Section 18-4-132, MCA, is amended to read:
26 "18-4-132. Application. (1) This chapter applies to:
27 (a) the expenditure of public funds irrespective of their source, including federal assistance money,
28 by this state acting through a governmental body under any contract, except a contract exempted from this
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1 chapter by this section or by another statute;
2 (b) a procurement of supplies or services that is at no cost to the state and from which income may
3 be derived by the vendor and to a procurement of supplies or services from which income or a more
4 advantageous business position may be derived by the state; and
5 (c) the disposal of state supplies.
6 (2) This chapter or rules adopted pursuant to this chapter do not prevent any governmental body
7 or political subdivision from complying with the terms and conditions of any grant, gift, bequest, or cooperative
8 agreement.
9 (3) This chapter does not apply to:
10 (a) either grants or contracts between the state and its political subdivisions or other governments,
11 except as provided in part 4;
12 (b) construction contracts;
13 (c) expenditures of or the authorized sale or disposal of equipment purchased with money raised
14 by student activity fees designated for use by the student associations of the university system;
15 (d) contracts entered into by the Montana state lottery that have an aggregate value of less than
16 $250,000;
17 (e) contracts entered into by the state compensation insurance fund to procure insurance-related
18 services;
19 (f) contracts with:
20 (i) a registered professional engineer, surveyor, real estate appraiser, or registered architect;
21 (ii) a physician, dentist, pharmacist, or other medical, dental, or health care provider;
22 (iii) an expert witness hired for use in litigation, a hearings officer hired in rulemaking and contested
23 case proceedings under the Montana Administrative Procedure Act, or an attorney as specified by executive
24 order of the governor;
25 (iv) consulting actuaries;
26 (v) a private person contracted by the student associations of the university system with money
27 raised from student activity fees designated for use by those student associations;
28 (vi) a private person contracted by the Montana state lottery;
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1 (vii) a private investigator licensed by any jurisdiction;
2 (viii) a claims adjuster; or
3 (ix) a court reporter appointed as an independent contractor under 3-5-601;
4 (g) electrical energy purchase contracts by the university of Montana or Montana state university,
5 as defined in 20-25-201. Any savings accrued by the university of Montana or Montana state university in the
6 purchase or acquisition of energy must be retained by the board of regents of higher education for university
7 allocation and expenditure.
8 (h) the purchase or commission of art for a museum or public display;
9 (i) contracting under 47-1-121 47-1-119 of the Montana Public Defender Act;
10 (j) contracting under Title 90, chapter 4, part 11; or
11 (k) contracting under Title 90, chapter 14, part 1.
12 (4) (a) Food products produced in Montana may be procured by either standard procurement
13 procedures or by direct purchase. Montana-produced food products may be procured by direct purchase when:
14 (i) the quality of available Montana-produced food products is substantially equivalent to the
15 quality of similar food products produced outside the state;
16 (ii) a vendor is able to supply Montana-produced food products in sufficient quantity; and
17 (iii) a bid for Montana-produced food products either does not exceed or reasonably exceeds the
18 lowest bid or price quoted for similar food products produced outside the state. A bid reasonably exceeds the
19 lowest bid or price quoted when, in the discretion of the person charged by law with the duty to purchase food
20 products for a governmental body, the higher bid is reasonable and capable of being paid out of that
21 governmental body's existing budget without any further supplemental or additional appropriation.
22 (b) The department shall adopt any rules necessary to administer the optional procurement
23 exception established in this subsection (4).
24 (5) As used in this section, the following definitions apply:
25 (a) "Food" means articles normally used by humans as food or drink, including articles used for
26 components of articles normally used by humans as food or drink.
27 (b) "Produced" means planted, cultivated, grown, harvested, raised, collected, processed, or
28 manufactured."
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1
2 Section 5. Section 47-1-104, MCA, is amended to read:
3 "47-1-104. (Temporary) Statewide system -- structure and scope of services -- assignment of
4 counsel at public expense. (1) There is a statewide public defender system, which is required to deliver public
5 defender services in all courts in this state. The system is supervised by the director.
6 (2) The director shall approve a strategic plan for service delivery and divide the state into not
7 more than 11 public defender regions. The director may establish a regional office to provide public defender
8 services in each region, as provided in 47-1-215, establish a contracted services program to provide services in
9 the region, or utilize other service delivery methods as appropriate and consistent with the purposes described
10 in 47-1-102.
11 (3) When a court orders the assignment of a public defender, the appropriate office shall
12 immediately assign a public defender qualified to provide the required services. The director shall establish
13 protocols to ensure that the offices make appropriate assignments in a timely manner.
14 (4) A court may order assignment of a public defender under this chapter in the following cases:
15 (a) in cases in which a person is entitled to assistance of counsel at public expense because of
16 financial inability to retain private counsel, subject to a determination of indigence pursuant to 47-1-111, as
17 follows:
18 (i) for a person charged with a felony or charged with a misdemeanor for which there is a
19 possibility of incarceration, as provided in 46-8-101;
20 (ii) for a party in a proceeding to determine parentage under the Uniform Parentage Act, as
21 provided in 40-6-119;
22 (iii) for an applicant for sentence review pursuant to Title 46, chapter 18, part 9;
23 (iv) for a petitioner in a proceeding for postconviction relief, as provided in 46-21-201;
24 (v) for a petitioner in a habeas corpus proceeding pursuant to Title 46, chapter 22;
25