Download as PDF
31.030 Authority and duties of department.
The authority and duties of the Department of Public Advocacy shall include but are not
limited to:
(1) Administering the statewide public advocacy system created by this chapter or by
any other appropriate legislation or court decision;
(2) Providing technical aid to local counsel representing indigent persons;
(3) Assisting local counsel on appeals or taking appeals for local counsel, in the same
manner as such appeals for the Commonwealth are presently handled by the
Attorney General;
(4) Developing and promulgating standards and administrative regulations, rules, and
procedures for administration of the defense of indigent defendants in criminal
cases that the public advocate, statutes, or the courts determine are subject to public
assistance;
(5) Determining necessary personnel for the department and appointing staff attorneys,
who shall be "assistant public advocates," and non-lawyer assistants within the
merit system, subject to available funding and employee allotments;
(6) Maintaining and exercising control over the department's information technology
system, and working with the Commonwealth Office of Technology to ensure that
the department's information technology is in conformity with the requirements of
state government;
(7) Reviewing and approving local plans for providing counsel for indigent persons;
(8) Conducting research into, and developing and implementing methods of, improving
the operation of the criminal justice system with regard to indigent defendants and
other defendants in criminal actions, including participation in groups,
organizations, and projects dedicated to improving representation of defendants in
criminal actions in particular, or the interests of indigent or impoverished persons in
general;
(9) Issuing rules, promulgating administrative regulations, and establishing standards as
may be reasonably necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter, the
decisions of the United States Supreme Court, the decisions of the Kentucky
Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and other applicable court decisions or statutes;
(10) Being authorized to pursue legal, administrative, and other appropriate remedies to
ensure the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities;
(11) Being authorized to purchase liability insurance for the protection of all full-time
public advocates, deputy public advocates, and assistant public advocates to protect
them from liability for malpractice arising in the course or scope of employment
and for the protection of attorneys with whom the Department of Public Advocacy
contracts to protect them from liability for malpractice arising in the course or scope
of the contract;
(12) Being authorized to seek and apply for and solicit funds for the operation of the
defense of indigent persons or protection of the persons with disabilities programs
from any source, public or private, and to receive donations, grants, awards, and
similar funds from any legal source. Those funds shall be placed in a special
account for the Department of Public Advocacy and those funds shall not lapse;
(13) Being authorized to assign an attorney, including a conflict attorney under a plan,
for good cause, at any stage of representation, including trial, appeal, or other postconviction or post-disposition proceeding, including discharge revocation hearings,
preliminary parole revocation hearings, and conditional discharge revocation
hearings, regardless of whether the hearings are conducted by constitutional judges
or executive branch administrative law judges;
(14) Filing with the Legislative Research Commission an annual report, by September
30 of each year, setting forth the total number of cases assigned to the department,
the average number of cases per department attorney, all funding available to the
department, the average amount of state funds expended per assigned case, and any
other information requested by the Legislative Research Commission or that the
public advocate finds necessary to inform the General Assembly, the judicial or
executive branches, or the public of the activities conducted by the department
during the previous fiscal year; and
(15) Do other activities and institute other programs as necessary to carry out the
provisions of this chapter, or those decisions or statutes which are the subject of this
section.
Effective: July 15, 2014
History: Amended 2014 Ky. Acts ch. 87, sec. 2, effective July 15, 2014. -- Amended
2012 Ky. Acts ch. 151, sec. 4, effective July 12, 2012. -- Amended 2002 Ky. Acts ch.
283, sec. 3, effective July 15, 2002. -- Amended 1978 Ky. Acts ch. 155, sec. 21,
effective June 17, 1978. -- Amended 1976 (1st Extra. Sess.) Ky. Acts ch. 14, sec. 8. - Created 1972 Ky. Acts ch. 353, sec. 3.
Disclaimer: These codes may not be the most recent version. Kentucky may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.