Bill Text: TX HB743 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to a maximum allowable caseload for certain attorneys.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-08 - No action taken in committee [HB743 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HB743-Introduced.html
| 87R2047 EAS-F | ||
| By: Collier | H.B. No. 743 | |
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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 established under Subsection (a) as necessary. | ||
| (c) The commission shall post the maximum allowable | ||
| caseload established under 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 | ||
| established under 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, 2021, 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, 2021. A criminal case in which the indictment | ||
| or information was filed before November 1, 2021, 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, 2021. | ||
