Title: Establishes a Statewide Public Defender Office
Vote to pass a bill that establishes a statewide public defender office in the state of South Dakota.
Defines terms related to legal services (Sec. 1).
Establishes the Commission on Indigent Legal services (Sec. 2).
Specifies membership of the commission (Sec. 3).
SPecifies that the commission may remove a member for good cause and by a two thirds vote (Sec. 4).
Specifies that no member of the commission shall receive any compensation but shall be compensated for per diem ( Sec. 5)
Specifies that the commission shall oversee indigent representation services to ensure effective assistance of counsel in the state court system where there is a right to counsel under state or federal law (Sec. 6).
Specifies that the commission shall do the following (Sec. 6):
Establish training standards;
Monitor and evaluate said standards;
Establish hourly rates and travel reimbursement rates for attorneys;
Auditing and monitoring of billings for private appointed attorneys;and
Provide for the collection of data from state and local systems to inform the oversight duties of the commission.
Title: Establishes a Statewide Public Defender Office