Section 1. There shall be a committee for public counsel services, hereinafter referred to as the committee, to plan, oversee, and coordinate the delivery of criminal and certain noncriminal legal services by salaried public counsel, bar advocate and other assigned counsel programs and private attorneys serving on a per case basis. The committee shall consist […]
Section 10. The committee shall monitor and evaluate compliance with the standards and the performance of counsel in its divisions in order to insure competent representation of defendants in all courts of the commonwealth and shall establish a procedure for the review and disposition of client complaints. The committee shall also establish procedures whereby comments […]
[ Subsection (a) effective until July 1, 2021. For text effective July 1, 2021, see below.] Section 11. (a) The rates of compensation payable to all counsel, who are appointed or assigned to represent indigents within the private counsel division of the committee in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (b) of section 6, shall, […]
Section 12. (a) The committee shall establish policies and procedures to provide fair compensation to private counsel and vendors, which shall include a remedy for an attorney aggrieved by the amount of payment. The committee shall also establish an audit and oversight department to monitor billing and private attorney and vendor compensation. All private attorney […]
Section 13. The committee shall appoint a chief counsel, whose responsibilities and duties shall be defined by the committee and shall include, but not be limited to, the overall supervision of the workings of the various divisions of the committee. The committee shall further appoint two deputy chief counsel, with duties defined by the committee, […]
Section 15. The committee shall consult regularly with a community advisory board appointed by the committee to represent the greater Roxbury community. Members of the community advisory board shall not receive compensation or reimbursement for expenses.
Section 16. The committee shall establish, supervise and maintain a system for the appointment of counsel for the provision of legal services for indigents subject to the sex offender registry classification system and resulting appeals pursuant to sections 178C to 178P, inclusive, of chapter 6.
Section 2. The committee for public counsel services shall establish a definition of ”indigency” for the purposes of this chapter and uniform standards and procedures for the determination by the courts of the commonwealth that: (1) a person is indigent and is unable to obtain counsel or (2) a person is indigent, but has the […]
Section 2A. (a) Except for a person under 18 years of age, a person claiming indigency under section 2 shall execute a waiver authorizing the court’s chief probation officer, or the officer’s designee, to obtain the person’s wage, tax and asset information from the department of revenue, department of transitional assistance and the registry of […]
Section 2B. A person charged with a misdemeanor or a violation of a municipal ordinance or bylaw, on motion of the commonwealth, the person or on the court’s own motion, shall not be appointed counsel if the judge, at arraignment, informs such person on the record that, if the person is convicted of such offense, […]
Section 3. Said committee may accept gifts, grants or contributions from any source, whether public or private, and may enter into contracts to provide or receive services with any federal, state, county or municipal entity, with any group or individual, whether profit or nonprofit, or with any nonprofit or voluntary charitable group, corporation, association or […]
Section 4. Said committee shall adopt such rules and regulations as may be necessary for the conduct of its affairs and may from time to time amend or revise the same. The committee shall prepare an annual report which shall be a public document. The committee shall establish standards and guidelines for the training, qualification […]
Section 5. Said committee shall establish, supervise and maintain a system for the appointment or assignment of counsel at any stage of a proceeding, either criminal or noncriminal in nature, provided, however, that the laws of the commonwealth or the rules of the supreme judicial court require that a person in such proceeding be represented […]
Section 6. (a) In carrying out its duties as prescribed in section 5, the committee shall utilize its staff of attorneys, which shall be known hereafter as the public defender division. The division shall include a unit to be known as the Roxbury defenders unit, which shall represent clients as assigned pursuant to this chapter […]
Section 6A. In carrying out its duties as prescribed in sections 5 and 6, the committee shall establish a children and family law program which shall, upon the court’s appointment, provide representation to indigent persons in children and family law cases. Nothing herein shall be construed to limit the system as established in sections 5 […]
Section 6B. Not more than 1 counsel assigned or appointed under section 5, 6 or 6A shall be paid for representation of a party in civil proceedings pending in any trial court under paragraph C of section 23, section 24 or 29B or sections 39E to 39I, inclusive, of chapter 119 or section 3 of […]
Section 8. Upon a determination by a court that a person accused of murder in the first or second degree is indigent, the chief counsel or his designee may assign the case to either the public defender division or the private counsel division, subject to the approval of the justice making the determination of indigency.
Section 9. The committee shall establish standards for the public defender division and the private counsel division which shall include but not be limited to: (a) vertical or continuous representation at the pre-trial and trial stages by the attorney either assigned or appointed, whenever possible; (b) required participation by each attorney in an approved course […]
