Bill Text: TX HB414 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to a maximum allowable caseload for certain attorneys.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-21 - Left pending in subcommittee [HB414 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB414-Introduced.html
88R3315 EAS-F | ||
By: Collier | H.B. No. 414 |
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relating to a maximum allowable caseload for certain attorneys. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Article 26.04(b), Code of Criminal Procedure, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
(b) Procedures adopted under Subsection (a) shall: | ||
(1) authorize only the judges of the county courts, | ||
statutory county courts, and district courts trying criminal cases | ||
in the county, or the judges' designee, to appoint counsel for | ||
indigent defendants in the county; | ||
(2) apply to each appointment of counsel made by a | ||
judge or the judges' designee in the county; | ||
(3) ensure that each indigent defendant in the county | ||
who is charged with a misdemeanor punishable by confinement or with | ||
a felony and who appears in court without counsel has an opportunity | ||
to confer with appointed counsel before the commencement of | ||
judicial proceedings; | ||
(4) require appointments for defendants in capital | ||
cases in which the death penalty is sought to comply with any | ||
applicable requirements under Articles 11.071 and 26.052; | ||
(5) ensure that each attorney appointed from a public | ||
appointment list to represent an indigent defendant perform the | ||
attorney's duty owed to the defendant in accordance with the | ||
adopted procedures, the requirements of this code, and applicable | ||
rules of ethics; [ |
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(6) ensure that appointments are allocated among | ||
qualified attorneys in a manner that is fair, neutral, and | ||
nondiscriminatory; and | ||
(7) ensure that an appointment will not result in the | ||
applicable attorney having a caseload that is larger than the | ||
maximum allowable caseload established under Section 79.043, | ||
Government Code. | ||
SECTION 2. Article 26.047(c), Code of Criminal Procedure, | ||
is amended to read as follows: | ||
(c) The commissioners court or commissioners courts shall | ||
require a written plan of operation from an entity operating a | ||
program under this article. The plan of operation must include: | ||
(1) a budget for the program, including salaries; | ||
(2) a description of each personnel position, | ||
including the program's director; | ||
(3) the maximum allowable caseload for each attorney | ||
appointed by the program, not to exceed the maximum allowable | ||
caseload established under Section 79.043, Government Code; | ||
(4) provisions for training personnel of the program | ||
and attorneys appointed under the program; | ||
(5) a description of anticipated overhead costs for | ||
the program; | ||
(6) a policy regarding licensed investigators and | ||
expert witnesses used by attorneys appointed under the program; | ||
(7) a policy to ensure that appointments are | ||
reasonably and impartially allocated among qualified attorneys; | ||
and | ||
(8) a policy to ensure that an attorney appointed | ||
under the program does not accept appointment in a case that | ||
involves a conflict of interest for the attorney that has not been | ||
waived by all affected clients. | ||
SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 79, Government Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 79.043 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 79.043. MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE CASELOAD FOR CRIMINAL | ||
DEFENSE ATTORNEYS. (a) The commission shall establish a maximum | ||
allowable caseload for a criminal defense attorney that, | ||
considering the attorney's total caseload, including appointments | ||
made under Article 26.04, Code of Criminal Procedure, appointments | ||
made under Title 3, Family Code, and other work, would allow the | ||
attorney to give each criminal defendant the time and effort | ||
necessary to ensure effective and diligent representation. | ||
(b) The commission shall revise the maximum allowable | ||
caseload described by Subsection (a) as necessary. | ||
(c) The commission shall post the maximum allowable | ||
caseload described by Subsection (a) on the commission's Internet | ||
website. | ||
(d) The commission shall adopt rules to promote compliance | ||
by each county in this state with the maximum allowable caseload | ||
described by Subsection (a). The commission shall impose a remedy | ||
for noncompliance occurring in any county in which the commission | ||
provided, for the preceding state fiscal year, grant funds under | ||
Section 79.037 in an amount that equaled more than 50 percent of the | ||
county's expenditures on indigent defense services for that year. | ||
SECTION 4. Not later than November 1, 2023, the Texas | ||
Indigent Defense Commission shall establish and post on its | ||
Internet website the maximum allowable caseload described by | ||
Section 79.043, Government Code, as added by this Act. | ||
SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to | ||
a criminal case in which the indictment or information is filed on | ||
or after November 1, 2023. A criminal case in which the indictment | ||
or information was filed before November 1, 2023, is governed by the | ||
law in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and | ||
the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. | ||
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |