HB601 Summary: Office of Indigent Defense Services

• Creates the Office of Indigent Defense Services within the Department of Finance, headed by a director appointed by the Director of Finance from candidates nominated by the Alabama State Bar, with a three-year term and authority to oversee all state indigent defense programs.

• Establishes indigent defense advisory boards in each judicial circuit composed of five members including the presiding circuit judge, local bar association presidents, county commissioners, municipal representatives, and citizens, meeting at least quarterly to recommend defense systems and provide oversight.

• Changes appointed counsel compensation from hourly rates of $40/$60 to a flat $75 per hour, eliminates overhead expense reimbursement, and requires director approval (not trial court approval) for bills exceeding $300 in expenses; applies same changes to appellate counsel at $75 per hour.

• Authorizes the director to establish contract counsel and public defender systems as methods for delivering indigent defense, with advisory boards consulted on selection; transfers salary and budget approval authority from local commissions to the director, with public defender salaries not exceeding district attorney pay.

• Repeals current statutes governing indigent defense commissions and their role in selecting defense counsel systems, consolidating power over indigent defense policy at the state level under the new director.