Senate Bill No. 414 Summary

• Adds right to counsel at preliminary hearings for probation and parole violations when judges determine counsel is necessary to protect due process rights, with judges required to state grounds if denying counsel

• Creates new section 600.062 prohibiting director or commission from limiting public defender availability based on caseload standards, allowing district defenders to request judicial conferences on caseload issues with 30-day judicial response requirement

• Creates new section 600.064 establishing procedures for appointing private counsel to indigent defendants, including financial status investigation, evidentiary hearings on appointment propriety, and prohibiting judges from requiring lawyers to advance personal funds for litigation expenses

• Modifies probation violation procedures in section 559.036 to allow court-ordered placement in 120-day Department of Corrections programs for eligible probationers, with successful completion resulting in credit toward probation time and preventing modification of original probation terms based on same violation

• Updates terminology throughout sections 600.011 and 600.042 replacing references to "chief deputy director" with "deputy directors" and clarifying definition of "defender" to include contract counsel providing defense services