SCS SB 611 -- PUBLIC DEFENDER SYSTEM

SPONSOR:  Goodman (Pratt)

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on Judiciary
by a vote of 10 to 2.

This substitute allows moneys from the General Revenue Fund to
pay for contract legal counsel to represent an eligible indigent
person charged with a violation for passing a bad check, a
misdemeanor offense, or a misdemeanor probation violation that
would likely result in confinement in the county jail and for
which the federal or state constitution requires the appointment
of an attorney.  Moneys in the fund can also be used for contract
counsel to represent a person involved in a criminal child
support action and a person who would normally be represented by
a public defender, if the public defender has a conflict of
interest in the case.  All employees of the Missouri State Public
Defender System and members of the Public Defender Commission are
disqualified from serving as a contract counsel.

FISCAL NOTE:  Estimated Cost on General Revenue Fund of $0 to
$8,845,000 in FY 2008, $0 to $10,932,420 in FY 2009, and $0 to
$11,260,393 in FY 2010.  No impact on Other State Funds in
FY 2008, FY 2009, and FY 2010.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that caseloads for our public
defender system in Missouri are out of control and cannot be
handled at the current staffing level.  Public defenders cannot
turn down or refer cases to other attorneys.  The bill creates a
hybrid system that stops short of the Missouri practice of the
early 1980's where all of the public legal services were
contracted to private attorneys.  The Director of the Missouri
Public Defender System will be able to look at the case volume in
each jurisdiction and assign contract counsel to help with the
backlog.

Testifying for the bill were Senator Goodman; Missouri State
Public Defender System; Doug Copeland; Phil Wright, Missouri
Associate Circuit Judge Association; and Judicial Conference of
Missouri.

OPPONENTS:  There was no opposition voiced to the committee.

Missouri House of Representatives
94th General Assembly, 1st Regular Session
Last Updated July 25, 2007 at 11:22 am