2006 Code of Virginia § 19.2-163.01 - Virginia Indigent Defense Commission established; powers and duties

19.2-163.01. Virginia Indigent Defense Commission established; powers andduties.

A. The Virginia Indigent Defense Commission (hereinafter Indigent DefenseCommission or Commission) is established. The Commission shall be supervisoryand shall have sole responsibility for the powers, duties, operations, andresponsibilities set forth in this section.

The Commission shall have the following powers and duties:

1. To publicize and enforce the qualification standards for attorneys seekingeligibility to serve as court-appointed counsel for indigent defendantspursuant to 19.2-159.

2. To develop initial training courses for attorneys who wish to beginserving as court-appointed counsel, and to review and certify legal educationcourses that satisfy the continuing requirements for attorneys to maintaintheir eligibility for receiving court appointments.

3. To maintain a list of attorneys admitted to practice law in Virginia whoare qualified to serve as court-appointed counsel for indigent defendantsbased upon the official standards and to disseminate the list by July 1 ofeach year and updates throughout the year to the Office of the ExecutiveSecretary of the Supreme Court for distribution to the courts. Inestablishing and updating the list, the Commission shall consider allrelevant factors, including but not limited to, the attorney's background,experience, and training and the Commission's assessment of whether theattorney is competent to provide quality legal representation.

4. To establish official standards of practice for court-appointed counseland public defenders to follow in representing their clients, and guidelinesfor the removal of an attorney from the official list of those qualified toreceive court appointments and to notify the Office of the ExecutiveSecretary of the Supreme Court of any attorney whose name has been removedfrom the list.

5. To develop initial training courses for public defenders and to review andcertify legal education courses that satisfy the continuing requirements forpublic defenders to maintain their eligibility.

6. To periodically review and report to the Virginia State Crime Commission,the House and the Senate Committees for Courts of Justice, the HouseCommittee on Appropriations, and the Senate Committee on Finance on thecaseload handled by each public defender office.

7. To maintain all public defender and regional capital defender officesestablished by the General Assembly.

8. To hire and employ and, at its pleasure, remove an executive director,counsel, and such other persons as it deems necessary, and to authorize theexecutive director to appoint, after prior notice to the Commission, a deputydirector, and for each of the above offices a public defender or capitaldefender, as the case may be, who shall devote his full time to his dutiesand not engage in the private practice of law.

9. To authorize the public defender or capital defender to employ suchassistants as authorized by the Commission.

10. To authorize the public defender or capital defender to employ suchstaff, including secretarial and investigative personnel, as may be necessaryto carry out the duties imposed upon the public defender office.

11. To authorize the public defender or capital defender to secure suchoffice space as needed, to purchase or rent office equipment, to purchasesupplies and to incur such expenses as are necessary to carry out the dutiesimposed upon him.

12. To approve requests for appropriations and receive and expend moneysappropriated by the General Assembly of Virginia and to receive other moneysas they become available to it and expend the same in order to carry out theduties imposed upon it.

13. To require and ensure that each public defender office collects andmaintains caseload data and fields in a case management database on an annualbasis.

14. To report annually on or before October 1 to the Virginia State CrimeCommission, the House and Senate Committees for Courts of Justice, the HouseCommittee on Appropriations, and the Senate Committee on Finance on the stateof indigent criminal defense in the Commonwealth, including Virginia'sranking amongst the 50 states in terms of pay allowed for court-appointedcounsel appointed pursuant to 19.2-159 or subdivision B 2 of 16.1-266.

B. The Commission shall adopt rules and procedures for the conduct of itsbusiness. The Commission may delegate to the executive director such powersand duties conferred upon the Commission as it deems appropriate, includingpowers and duties involving the exercise of discretion. The Commission shallensure that the executive director complies with all Commission and statutorydirectives. Such rules and procedures may include the establishment ofcommittees and the delegation of authority to the committees. The Commissionshall review and confirm by a vote of the Commission its rules and proceduresand any delegation of authority to the executive director at least everythree years.

C. The executive director shall, with the approval of the Commission, fix thecompensation of each public defender and all other personnel in each publicdefender office. The executive director shall also exercise and perform suchother powers and duties as may be lawfully delegated to him and such powersand duties as may be conferred or imposed upon him by law.

(2004, cc. 884, 921; 2005, c. 230; 2006, cc. 429, 501.)