PRINTER'S NO. 1884
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No.
1317
Session of
2022
INTRODUCED BY BROWNE, HUGHES, PITTMAN, SCHWANK, COLLETT,
COMITTA, FONTANA, KEARNEY, CAPPELLETTI, KANE, SAVAL AND MUTH,
SEPTEMBER 7, 2022
REFERRED TO JUDICIARY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2022
AN ACT
Amending the act of November 22, 1978 (P.L.1166, No.274),
entitled "An act establishing the Pennsylvania Commission on
Crime and Delinquency, providing for its powers and duties
establishing several advisory committees within the
commission and providing for their powers and duties,"
providing for Indigent Defense Advisory Committee; and
establishing the Indigent Defense Grant Program and the
Indigent Defense Fund.
The General Assembly finds and declares that:
(1) crime and delinquency are essentially State and
local problems;
(2) crime and delinquency are complex social phenomena
requiring the attention and efforts of the criminal justice
system, State and local governments and private citizens
alike;
(3) the establishment of appropriate goals, objectives
and standards for the reduction of crime and delinquency and
for the administration of justice must be a priority concern;
(4) the functions of the criminal justice system must be
coordinated more efficiently and effectively;
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(5) the full and effective use of resources affecting
State and local criminal justice systems requires the
complete cooperation of State and local government agencies;
and
(6) training, research, evaluation, technical assistance
and public education activities must be encouraged and
focused on the improvement of the criminal justice system and
the generation of new methods for the prevention and
reduction of crime and delinquency.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The act of November 22, 1978 (P.L.1166, No.274),
referred to as the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and
Delinquency Law, is amended by adding a section to read:
Section 7.3. Indigent Defense Advisory Committee.
(a) Establishment.--The Indigent Defense Advisory Committee
is established within the commission.
(b) Composition.--The committee shall consist of a
chairperson and the following members to be selected as follows:
(1) The executive director of the Interbranch Commission
for Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness, or a designee, who
shall serve as an ex officio and nonvoting member.
(2) The executive director of the Public Defender
Association of Pennsylvania, or a designee, who shall serve
as an ex officio and nonvoting member.
(3) The executive director of the Pennsylvania
Commission on Sentencing, or a designee, who shall serve as
an ex officio and nonvoting member.
(4) The executive director of the Pennsylvania District
Attorneys Association, or a designee, who shall serve as an
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ex officio and nonvoting member.
(5) The Commonwealth Victim Advocate, or a designee, who
shall serve as an ex officio and nonvoting member.
(6) The executive director of the Pennsylvania Chiefs of
Police Association, or a designee, who shall serve as an ex
officio and nonvoting member.
(7) An individual appointed by the President pro tempore
of the Senate.
(8) An individual appointed by the Minority Leader of
the Senate.
(9) An individual appointed by the Speaker of the House
of Representatives.
(10) An individual appointed by the Minority Leader of
the House of Representatives.
(11) The following members appointed by the Governor:
(i) One representative of public defenders appointed
from a list of three qualified attorneys recommended by
the Public Defender Association of Philadelphia.
(ii) One criminal defense attorney with public
defender experience appointed from a list of three
qualified individuals recommended by the Pennsylvania
Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
(iii) One attorney with experience defending
juveniles in delinquency proceedings, appointed from a
list of three qualified individuals recommended by the
Juvenile Defenders Association of Pennsylvania.
(iv) One member from the law school academic
community with a background in public defense or legal
services appointed from a list of qualified individuals
recommended by each law school in this Commonwealth.
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(v) One attorney with capital case indigent defense
trial, appellate or postconviction experience associated
with the Pennsylvania Innocence Project at Temple
University Beasley School of Law.
(vi) One representative of county government from
the second class or second class A counties appointed
from a list of three qualified individuals recommended by
the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania.
(vii) One representative of county government from
the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh or eighth class
counties appointed from a list of three qualified
individuals recommended by the County Commissioners
Association of Pennsylvania.
(viii) One advocate for current and former prison
inmates appointed from a list of three individuals
recommended by the Pennsylvania Prison Society.
(12) Three judges who serve in the criminal court area
and are representative of the geographic and demographic
diversity of the Commonwealth, appointed by the Chief Justice
of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
(13) The following members appointed by the Chief
Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court:
(i) One county chief public defender from a list of
three recommendations from the Public Defender
Association of Pennsylvania.
(ii) One public defender from the second or 2-A
class counties from a list of four recommendations from
the Public Defender Association of Pennsylvania.
(iii) One public defender from the third or fourth
class counties from a list of four recommendations from
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the Public Defender Association of Pennsylvania.
(iv) One public defender from the fifth, sixth,
seventh or eighth class counties from a list of four
recommendations from the Public Defender Association of
Pennsylvania.
(c) Chairperson and vice chairperson.--The chairperson of
the committee shall be selected by the Governor from among the
members of the committee. A vice chairperson shall be designated
by the chairperson of the committee from among the members of
the committee to preside at meetings in the absence of the
chairperson.
(d) Term.--Members of the committee shall serve a four-year
term. Members may be eligible for reappointment. Vacancies on
the committee shall be filled by the appointing authority within
60 days of the vacancy.
(e) Quorum.--A majority of the members of the committee
shall constitute a quorum and a quorum shall be required for all
actions. A vote of the majority of the members of the committee
present shall be sufficient for all actions taken by the
committee.
(f) Initial meeting.--The committee shall hold its first
meeting no later than 60 days from the effective date of this
subsection.
(g) Compensation and expenses.--The committee members shall
not receive a salary or per diem allowance for serving as board
members, but shall be reimbursed for actual and necessary
expenses incurred in the performance of duties as members of the
committee. Expenses may include reimbursement of travel and
living expenses while engaged in committee business.
(h) Staff.--Staff support shall be made available to the
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committee by the executive director of the commission in order
to adequately assist the committee in carrying out its duties
and responsibilities.
(i) Duties and responsibilities.--The committee shall have
the following duties and responsibilities:
(1) Propose minimum standards for the delivery of
effective indigent defense services throughout this
Commonwealth that are consistent with the requirements of the
Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of
Pennsylvania.
(2) Propose minimum standards for attorneys providing
indigent defense services to ensure that the ability,
training and experience of the attorneys match the cases
assigned to the attorneys.
(3) Submit proposed standards to the Pennsylvania
Supreme Court for adoption through a manner prescribed by the
Supreme Court.
(4) Identify, develop or provide appropriate Statewide
continuing legal education courses, practical training
programs and skill development resources, including
preservice training for newly hired public defenders, public
defender staff attorneys, assigned counsel and contract
public defenders and other counsel who provide indigent
defense services.
(5) Identify, develop or provide appropriate programs
for capital case defense skills training, adult criminal
defense training, juvenile delinquency defense training and
management and leadership training for chief defenders and
public defender office leaders and other counsel who provide
indigent defense services.
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(6) Establish a virtual defender training library
consisting of all programs approved by the committee.
(7) Adopt standards by which counties shall collect and
report, at a minimum, the following to the committee:
(i) The caseload and workload of each attorney in
the county's public defender office.
(ii) The caseload and workload of attorneys who are
assigned to represent an indigent defendant as conflict
counsel or contract counsel in the county.
(iii) The total expenditures and per capita spending
for indigent criminal defense services in the county.
(8) Adopt standards for the use of case management
systems or software by county public defender offices.
(9) Develop, in partnership with the Administrative
Office of Pennsylvania Courts, the Juvenile Court Judges'
Commission data requests that include, at a minimum, the
following:
(i) The total number of criminal cases involving a
public defender by category of criminal offense and by
county.
(ii) The total number of criminal cases disposed of
by trial or plea involving a public defender.
(iii) The total number of criminal cases disposed of
by trial or plea involving a public defender by county.
(iv) The total number of juvenile delinquency cases
involving a public defender by category of offense and by
county.
(v) The total number of juvenile delinquency cases
disposed of by hearing or admission involving a public
defender.
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(vi) The total number of juvenile delinquency cases
disposed of by hearing or admission involving a public
defender by county.
(vii) The total number of criminal cases with a
court appointed attorney, not a public defender.
(viii) The total number of juvenile delinquency
cases with a court appointed attorney, not a public
defender.
(ix) The total number of criminal and juvenile
delinquency cases appealed involving a public defender by
county.
(10) Partner with other departments or agencies for the
collection of data related to the delivery of indigent
defense services, as may be required by the committee.
(11) Analyze the data to identify trends and overall
effectiveness of indigent defense services in the State and
the impact of the standards adopted on the effectiveness of
indigent defense services in the future.
(12) Prepare a report which includes, at a minimum, the
actions of the committee, details of grants awarded,
summaries of data collected with statistics regarding the
delivery of indigent defense services and recommendations for
improvement of the indigent defense system in this
Commonwealth. The report shall be submitted two years from
the effective date of this section and biennially thereafter.
The report shall be published on the commission's publicly
accessible Internet website. A copy of the report shall be
submitted to the Governor, the chair and minority chair of
the Judiciary Committee of the Senate, the chair and minority
chair of the Judiciary Committee of the House of
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Representatives, the chair and minority chair of the
Appropriations Committee of the Senate, the chair and
minority chair of the Appropriations Committee of the House
of Representatives and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
(j) Indigent Defense Grant Program.--The Indigent Defense
Grant Program is established by the commission. The committee
shall perform those functions related to the direct approval and
disbursement of grants under this program in an advisory
capacity only. The committee shall have the opportunity to
review and comment on grant applications and shall ensure that
grant funding or services provided under the program are
geographically dispersed throughout this Commonwealth. Grant
money allocated through the program shall be used to supplement
and not supplant existing county spending on indigent criminal
defense services. Nothing shall preclude a county from making an
application in a subsequent year for the same purpose and amount
awarded in a prior year. Grants awarded shall be consistent with
the standards established by the committee and the standards
adopted by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
(k) Indigent Defense Fund establishment.--The Indigent
Defense Fund is established as a special fund in the State
Treasury. All money deposited into the fund, and the interest it
accrues, are appropriated to the committee on a continuing basis
to award grants under this section. No administrative action
shall prevent the deposit of money into the fund in the fiscal
year in which the money is received. The following shall apply:
(1) The fund may only be used for the grant and training
programs authorized under this section and no money in the
fund may be transferred or diverted to any other purpose by
administrative action.
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(2) Money available to the fund shall include
appropriations and transfers from the General Fund, special
funds, Federal funds and other sources of revenue made
available to it and the commission.
(3) The commission may use up to 10% of the money
appropriated each year for the costs of supporting the
committee and administering the grant program, which may
include the costs relating to the employment of personnel,
providing technical assistance to grantees and evaluating the
impact of initiatives supported by the grants. The commission
may randomly audit and monitor grant recipients to ensure the
appropriate use of grant funds and compliance with the
provisions of this section.
(l) Definitions.--As used in this section, the term
"indigent defense services" means the legal representation
provided to indigent adult defendants and juvenile respondents
through either a public defender's office, contracted counsel or
conflict counsel.
Section 2. This act shall take effect in 30 days.
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