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OH SB139
Bill
Status
5/29/2013
Primary Sponsor
Joseph Uecker
Click for details
AI Summary
S.B. No. 139 Summary
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Establishes a phased reimbursement schedule where the state public defender shall reimburse counties at increasing percentages (50% starting January 1, 2014, increasing to 100% by January 1, 2019) for indigent defense costs, with 50% reimbursement for capital case expenses maintained throughout.
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Requires state public defender approval for establishment of county public defender commissions and appointment/retention of county public defenders; eliminates joint-county public defender systems as an option.
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Authorizes the state public defender to establish statewide hourly rates and per-case maximums for appointed counsel, replacing individual county fee schedules; permits creation of state-run regional and district offices to operate in place of county systems.
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Requires the Governor's next appointment to the Ohio Public Defender Commission be selected from nominees submitted by the County Commissioners Association of Ohio.
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Allows the state public defender to contract directly with municipal corporations to provide legal representation in municipal ordinance violation cases and permits use of the Indigent Defense Support Fund to pay state costs for regional and district office operations.
Legislative Description
To provide a 50 per cent reimbursement to the counties for their indigent defense costs, to increase the guaranteed reimbursement rate for such indigent defense costs, to require the State Public Defender to approve the establishment of county public defender commissions, to approve the appointment or retention of the county public defender, and to set a statewide schedule of hourly rates and per case maximums to be paid to appointed counsel, to eliminate the option for a county to operate a joint-county public defender system, to permit the State Public Defender to create state-run regional and district offices that would operate in lieu of the county-run systems, to allow the State Public Defender to use the Indigent Defense Support Fund to pay the state's portion of costs for the regional and district offices, to provide that the Governor's next appointment to the Ohio Public Defender Commission be from a list of nominees submitted by the County Commissioners Association of Ohio, and to allow the State Public Defender to contract directly with a municipal corporation to provide representation in municipal ordinance cases.
Public defenders/indigent defense costs/ funding
Last Action
To Finance
5/29/2013