PRINTER'S NO. 314
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No.
371
Session of
2023
INTRODUCED BY BAKER, HUGHES, COLLETT, HAYWOOD, SCHWANK, COMITTA,
SANTARSIERO, KANE, KEARNEY, BARTOLOTTA, TARTAGLIONE,
BREWSTER, COSTA, SAVAL AND MUTH, FEBRUARY 21, 2023
REFERRED TO JUDICIARY, FEBRUARY 21, 2023
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.
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;
(5) the full and effective use of resources affecting
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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.
(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
ex officio and nonvoting member.
(5) The Commonwealth Victim Advocate, or a designee, who
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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) The executive director of the Juvenile Court Judges'
Commission, or a designee, who shall serve as an ex officio
and nonvoting member.
(8) An individual appointed by the President pro tempore
of the Senate.
(9) An individual appointed by the Minority Leader of
the Senate.
(10) An individual appointed by the Speaker of the House
of Representatives.
(11) An individual appointed by the Minority Leader of
the House of Representatives.
(12) The following members appointed by the Governor:
(i) One representative of public defenders appointed
from a list of three qualified attorneys recommended by
the 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
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recommended by each law school in this Commonwealth.
(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.
(13) Three judges who routinely preside over criminal or
juvenile cases and are representative of the geographic and
demographic diversity of the Commonwealth, appointed by the
Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
(14) 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 class OR
second class A counties from a list of four
recommendations from the Public Defender Association of
Pennsylvania.
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(iii) One public defender from the third or fourth
class counties from a list of four recommendations from
the Public Defender Association of Pennsylvania.
(iv) Two public defenders 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
voting members of the committee. A vice chairperson shall be
designated by the chairperson of the committee from among the
voting 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 are eligible for reappointment for no more than
two consecutive terms. Members appointed under subsection (b)
(1), (2), (3), (4), (5) , (6) and (7) shall serve by virtue of
the member's office, and the term shall be concurrent with the
member's service in the office. Vacancies on the committee shall
be filled by the appointing authority within 60 days of the
vacancy. For the purposes of this subsection, a vacancy occurs
when a member resigns from the committee or no longer holds the
employment that originally qualified the member for the
appointment.
(e) Quorum.--A majority of the voting members of the
committee shall constitute a quorum and a quorum shall be
required for all actions. A vote of the majority of the voting
members of the committee present shall be sufficient for all
actions taken by the committee.
(f) Meetings .--The committee shall hold its first meeting no
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later than 60 days from the effective date of this subsection.
Except for the first meeting, meetings related to the
implementation and operation of the Indigent Defense Grant
Program established under subsection (k) and meetings related to
committee duties under subsection (i)(13), members appointed
under subsection (b)(4), (5) and (6) may not participate in
meetings and committee work related to committee duties under
subsection (i)(1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10),
(11) and (12), unless requested by a majority of the voting
members.
(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
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.-- With the review and
approval of the commission, 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,
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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.
(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
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systems or software by county public defender offices.
(9) Develop, in partnership with the Administrative
Office of Pennsylvania Courts and 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 adjudicated
or closed involving a public defender by category of
disposition type and by county.
(iii) The total number of juvenile delinquency cases
involving a public defender by category of offense and by
county.
(iv) The total number of juvenile delinquency cases
adjudicated or closed involving a public defender by
category of disposition type and by county.
(v) The total number of criminal cases with a court
appointed attorney, not a public defender.
(vi) The total number of juvenile delinquency cases
with a court appointed attorney, not a public defender.
(vii) 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
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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
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.
(13) Perform functions related to the direct approval
and disbursement of grants under the Indigent Defense Grant
Program established under subsection (k) in an advisory
capacity only.
(j) Confidentiality of data.--County-specific data received
and collected by the committee shall remain confidential. The
committee may release aggregate data at the committee's
discretion when preparing and submitting its biennial report.
(k) Indigent Defense Grant Program.--The Indigent Defense
Grant Program is established in the commission. The following
shall apply:
(1) Money available to the program shall include
appropriations and transfers from the General Fund, special
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funds, Federal funds and other sources of revenue made
available to the program and the commission.
(2) Program funding may only be used for the grant and
training activities authorized under this section, and no
money may be transferred or diverted to any other purpose by
administrative action.
(3) 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.
(4) Grant money allocated through the program shall be
used to supplement and not supplant existing county spending
on indigent defense services.
(5) Nothing shall preclude a grant recipient from making
an application in a subsequent year for the same purpose and
amount awarded in a prior year.
(6) Grants awarded shall be consistent with the
standards established by the committee and the standards
adopted by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
(7) 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.
(8) The commission may use up to 10% of the money
appropriated each year for the costs of supporting the
committee and administering the 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.
(l) Definitions.--As used in this section, the term
"indigent defense services" means the legal representation
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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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