Bill Text: TX SB260 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to caseloads for attorneys who are appointed to represent indigent defendants in criminal cases.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-01-28 - Referred to Criminal Justice [SB260 Detail]

Download: Texas-2015-SB260-Introduced.html

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84R1945 JRH-F
By: Ellis S.B. No. 260

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to caseloads for attorneys who are appointed to represent
indigent defendants in criminal cases.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Articles 26.04(b), (d), (e), and (j), Code of
Criminal Procedure, are 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; [and]
(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 Subsection (e).
(d) A public appointment list from which an attorney is
appointed as required by Subsection (a) shall contain the names of
qualified attorneys, each of whom:
(1) applies to be included on the list;
(2) meets the objective qualifications specified by
the judges under Subsection (e);
(3) meets any applicable qualifications specified by
the Texas Indigent Defense Commission; [and]
(4) is approved by a majority of the judges who
established the appointment list under Subsection (e); and
(5) annually provides information necessary to
establish that the attorney is able to accept an appointment under
the program without exceeding the attorney's maximum allowable
caseload specified by the judges under Subsection (e).
(e) In a county in which a court is required under
Subsection (a) to appoint an attorney from a public appointment
list:
(1) the judges of the county courts and statutory
county courts trying misdemeanor cases in the county, by formal
action:
(A) shall:
(i) establish a public appointment list of
attorneys qualified to provide representation in the county in
misdemeanor cases punishable by confinement; [and]
(ii) specify the objective qualifications
necessary for an attorney to be included on the list; and
(iii) establish a maximum allowable
caseload for a qualified attorney that, considering the attorney's
total caseload including appointments made under this article,
appointments made under Title 3, Family Code, and other work,
ensures that the defendant will be diligently represented; and
(B) may establish, if determined by the judges to
be appropriate, more than one appointment list graduated according
to the degree of seriousness of the offense, the attorneys'
qualifications, and whether representation will be provided in
trial court proceedings, appellate proceedings, or both; and
(2) the judges of the district courts trying felony
cases in the county, by formal action:
(A) shall:
(i) establish a public appointment list of
attorneys qualified to provide representation in felony cases in
the county; [and]
(ii) specify the objective qualifications
necessary for an attorney to be included on the list; and
(iii) establish a maximum allowable
caseload for a qualified attorney that, considering the attorney's
total caseload including appointments made under this article,
appointments made under Title 3, Family Code, and other work,
ensures that the defendant will be diligently represented; and
(B) may establish, if determined by the judges to
be appropriate, more than one appointment list graduated according
to the degree of seriousness of the offense, the attorneys'
qualifications, and whether representation will be provided in
trial court proceedings, appellate proceedings, or both.
(j) An attorney appointed under this article shall:
(1) make every reasonable effort to contact the
defendant not later than the end of the first working day after the
date on which the attorney is appointed and to interview the
defendant as soon as practicable after the attorney is appointed;
(2) represent the defendant until charges are
dismissed, the defendant is acquitted, appeals are exhausted, or
the attorney is permitted or ordered by the court to withdraw as
counsel for the defendant after a finding of good cause is entered
on the record;
(3) with respect to a defendant not represented by
other counsel, before withdrawing as counsel for the defendant
after a trial or the entry of a plea of guilty:
(A) advise the defendant of the defendant's right
to file a motion for new trial and a notice of appeal;
(B) if the defendant wishes to pursue either or
both remedies described by Paragraph (A), assist the defendant in
requesting the prompt appointment of replacement counsel; and
(C) if replacement counsel is not appointed
promptly and the defendant wishes to pursue an appeal, file a timely
notice of appeal; and
(4) not later than October 1 [15] of each year and in
the form and manner [on a form] prescribed by the Texas Indigent
Defense Commission, submit to the county information that describes
the attorney's caseload for the most recent state fiscal year,
including [, for the preceding fiscal year, that describes the
percentage of the attorney's practice time that was dedicated to
work based on] appointments accepted in the county under this
article, appointments accepted in the county under [and] Title 3,
Family Code, and other work.
SECTION 2. Section 79.036(a-1), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a-1) Not later than November 1 of each year and in the form
and manner prescribed by the commission, each county shall prepare
and provide to the commission information that describes for the
preceding fiscal year the number of appointments under Article
26.04, Code of Criminal Procedure, and Title 3, Family Code, made to
each attorney accepting appointments in the county, and information
provided to the county by [those] attorneys under Article
26.04(j)(4), Code of Criminal Procedure.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a criminal proceeding that commences on or after the effective
date of this Act. A criminal proceeding that commences before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when the
proceeding commenced, and the former law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect January 1, 2016.