§41-4-322. Programs; director; standards; duties of director and local indigent defense advisory board; budget.

(a) The office shall develop and improve programs to provide legal representation to indigents.

(b) The office shall have a director, who shall be chosen by the Director of Finance on the basis of training, experience, and other qualifications. The term of office shall be three years, subject to termination for cause. The person selected as Director of the Office of Indigent Defense Services, in addition to the above qualifications and experience, shall be an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Alabama. The director shall be chosen from a list of three qualified candidates nominated by the Alabama State Bar Board of Bar Commissioners within 60 days of a vacancy occurring. The Director of Finance shall serve as the Director of Indigent Defense Services on an interim basis if a vacancy exists. If the Alabama State Bar Board of Bar Commissioners fails to provide a list as required, then the director shall be chosen by the Director of Finance from a list of the three qualified candidates provided by the Governor.

(c) The director shall develop standards governing the provision of defense services under this article. The standards shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

(1) Providing fiscal responsibility and accountability in indigent defense preparation.

(2) Maintaining and operating indigent defense systems, whether appointed counsel, contract counsel, public defender, or appellate defender offices, some combination of the above, or any other method which meets the goals set forth in this article.

(3) Prescribing minimum experience, training, and other qualifications for appointed counsel, contract counsel, and public defenders, including additional qualifications for counsel appointed in capital cases.

(4) Caseload management for appointed counsel, contract counsel, and public defenders, including the number of attorneys appointed in capital cases which, when appropriate, may include two attorneys.

(5) Performance for appointed counsel, contract counsel, and public defenders.

(6) Criteria for independent, competent, and efficient representation of clients whose cases present conflicts of interest.

(7) Providing and compensating experts who provide services related to legal representation of indigents.

(8) Determining indigency and partial indigency.

(9) Establishing procedures for the recoupment of fees, expenses, and salaries.

(d) The local indigent defense advisory board shall determine the methods for delivering indigent defense services in the trial courts in each county or circuit, or parts of the county or circuit. The director may appeal the determination of the indigent defense advisory board to the Indigent Defense Review Panel. The indigent defense advisory board shall certify its system to the Indigent Defense Review Panel and to the director on or before October 1 of each year. Should the indigent defense advisory board fail to make certification to the Indigent Defense Review Panel and to the director as herein prescribed, the Indigent Defense Review Panel, in consultation with the director, shall determine the system for delivery of indigent defense services in that circuit. The methods established for delivering indigent defense services may include, but are not limited to, appointed counsel systems, contract counsel systems, and part-time or full-time public defender systems. In determining the method for delivering indigent defense services, the indigent defense advisory board shall select the most efficient and effective counsel system available in each county or circuit, or parts of the county or circuit.

(e) The director shall determine the methods of providing indigent defense service in the appellate courts. If a method is selected by the director whereby someone other than the trial counsel shall serve as the appellate counsel for the appellant, the director, to the extent possible, shall see that the system provides for the representation of the appellant from the time the trial counsel is permitted to withdraw. In determining the method by which indigent defense services shall be provided in the appellate courts, the director shall consult with the Alabama Supreme Court, the Court of Criminal Appeals, and the Court of Civil Appeals.

(f) This article does not govern the provision of indigent defense services to municipal courts, and this article does not prohibit any of the systems or methods by which legal services are now or are in the future provided to indigent defendants in the municipal courts of this state.

(g) The director shall annually approve and recommend a budget for indigent defense systems to the Director of Finance.

(h) The director shall adopt other rules and procedures he or she deems necessary for the conduct of business by the Office of Indigent Defense Services.

(Act 2011-678, p. 1862, §3.)