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House Bill 1754 |
House Author: Gallego |
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Effective: 9-1-11 |
Senate Sponsor: Wentworth et al. |
House Bill 1754 amends the Government Code, Code of Criminal Procedure, and Local Government Code relating to the reorganization of powers and duties among certain state entities that provide representation to indigent defendants in certain criminal and juvenile offense cases and to the reorganization of funding sources for indigent defense. The bill establishes the Texas Indigent Defense Commission as a permanent standing committee of the Texas Judicial Council, abolishes the Task Force on Indigent Defense, and transfers the powers, duties, obligations, rights, contracts, records, personnel, property, and unspent appropriations of the task force to the commission. The bill establishes a governing board for the commission, provides for the composition of the board and the appointment, meetings, compensation, and immunity of board members, and requires the board to adopt rules relating to the implementation of the commission. The bill establishes the general powers and duties of the commission, including developing policies and standards for providing legal representation and other defense services to indigent defendants in certain criminal and juvenile proceedings and developing a plan that establishes statewide requirements for counties relating to reporting indigent defense information, and provides for the collaboration by specified county officers in providing the commission that information. The bill establishes the fair defense account in the general revenue fund to be appropriated only to the commission and the office of capital writs for specified purposes and provides that the commission is administratively attached to the Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System.
House Bill 1754 requires each legal clinic or program in Texas that is operated by a law school and that receives financial support from the commission to submit to the commission an annual report regarding criminal cases in which the clinic or program has provided legal services to an indigent defendant during the preceding calendar year and in which, based on a finding of actual innocence, the court of criminal appeals overturns a conviction or the governor issues a pardon based on actual innocence. The report must identify each likely cause of a listed wrongful conviction and recommend best practices, policies, and statutory changes to address or mitigate those likely causes with respect to future criminal cases.
House Bill 1754 revises procedures for the provision of public defense at the county or regional level to authorize the establishment of a county or regional public defender's office and an oversight board for such a public defender's office. The bill authorizes a county, on certain written approval, to appoint a governmental entity, nonprofit corporation, or bar association to operate a managed assigned counsel program for the purpose of appointing indigent defense counsel, requires each such program to have a plan of operation that includes certain elements, establishes program criteria and requirements, and provides for funding and personnel for programs.