Section 15-12-40 Establishment of public defender office; selection and appointment of attorneys. The indigent defense advisory board may establish a public defender office as a method to provide indigent defense services within a circuit or any part thereof. For each new term, and to fill any vacancy, the director may select and appoint a public […]
Section 15-12-41 Term of office; removal; requirement of service. (a) The public defender shall be appointed after June 14, 2011, for a fixed term not to exceed three years, subject to reappointment by the indigent defense advisory board, and may be removed from office for cause by the director. (b) The director may require that […]
Section 15-12-42 Powers and duties. The public defender shall have the following powers and duties: (1) Within his or her geographic jurisdiction, the public defender shall provide indigent defense services as defined in Section 15-12-1 to indigent defendants. (2) The public defender, at the request and with the consent of a municipal governing body and […]
Section 15-12-43 Compensation and expenses. (a) The public defender shall receive a salary set by the director. The salary shall not exceed the state salary paid to a district attorney and shall be paid in the same manner as employees of the state. (b) All salary and expenses of a public defender shall be paid […]
Section 15-12-44 Recordkeeping; confidentiality of attorney-client communications. The public defender shall keep such records and make such reports on matters related to the operation of the office of the public defender as are required by the director. The attorney-client communications involving the defender or attorneys employed by him or her shall remain confidential. (Acts 1975, […]
Section 15-12-45 Approval of expenditures, salaries, etc.; employment of assistants, investigators, etc. (a) The director may approve expenditures for attorneys, investigators, other personnel and nonpersonnel expenses of the public defender. Authorized employees of the public defender offices shall be entitled to annual and sick leave, insurance, retirement, and other state employee benefits, including cost-of-living raises, […]
Section 15-12-46 Applicability of article to establishment of appointed counsel or contract counsel systems, etc. Nothing in this article shall be construed to exclude establishment of appointed counsel or contract counsel systems parallel to a public defender system or to preclude judges from appointing counsel for indigent defendants where there is a conflict of interest […]
