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H.B. No. 1701
AN ACT
relating to the defense of indigent persons accused of a criminal
offense.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 71.0351, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 71.0351. INDIGENT DEFENSE INFORMATION. (a) In each
county, not [Not] later than November [January] 1 of each
odd-numbered year and in the form and manner prescribed by the Task
Force on Indigent Defense, the following information shall be
prepared and provided to the Office of Court Administration of the
Texas Judicial System:
(1) [, in each county,] a copy of all formal and
informal rules and forms that describe the procedures used in the
county to provide indigent defendants with counsel in accordance
with the Code of Criminal Procedure, including the schedule of fees
required under Article 26.05 of that code;
(2) any revisions to rules or forms previously
submitted to the office of court administration under this section;
or
(3) verification that rules and forms previously
submitted to the office of court administration under this section
still remain in effect[, shall be prepared and sent to the Office of
Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System in the form and
manner prescribed by the office].
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c):
(1) [(b),] the local administrative district judge in
each county, or the person designated by the judge, shall perform
the action required by Subsection (a) with respect to [prepare and
send to the office of court administration a copy of] all rules and
forms adopted by the judges of the district courts trying felony
cases in the county; and
(2) [. Except as provided by Subsection (b),] the
local administrative statutory county court judge in each county,
or the person designated by the judge, shall perform the action
required by Subsection (a) with respect to [prepare and send to the
office of court administration a copy of] all rules and forms
adopted by the judges of the county courts and statutory county
courts trying misdemeanor cases in the county.
(c) [(b)] If the judges of two or more levels of courts
described by Subsection (b) adopt the same formal and informal
rules and forms [as described by Subsection (a)], the local
administrative judge serving the courts having jurisdiction over
offenses with the highest classification of punishment, or the
person designated by the judge, shall perform the action required
by Subsection (a) [prepare and send to the Office of Court
Administration of the Texas Judicial System a copy of the rules and
forms].
(d) The chair of the juvenile board in each county, or the
person designated by the chair, shall perform the action required
by Subsection (a) with respect to all rules and forms adopted by the
juvenile board.
(e) [(c)] In each county, the county auditor, or the person
designated by the commissioners court if the county does not have a
county auditor, shall prepare and send to the Office of Court
Administration of the Texas Judicial System in the form and manner
prescribed by the Task Force on Indigent Defense [office] and on a
monthly, quarterly, or annual basis, with respect to legal services
provided in the county to indigent defendants during each fiscal
year, information showing the total amount expended by the county
to provide indigent defense services and an analysis of the amount
expended by the county:
(1) in each district, county, statutory county, and
appellate court;
(2) in cases for which a private attorney is appointed
for an indigent defendant;
(3) in cases for which a public defender is appointed
for an indigent defendant;
(4) in cases for which counsel is appointed for an
indigent juvenile under Section 51.10(f), Family Code; and
(5) for investigation expenses, expert witness
expenses, or other litigation expenses.
(f) [(d)] As a duty of office, each district and county
clerk shall cooperate with the county auditor or the person
designated by the commissioners court and the commissioners court
in retrieving information required to be sent to the Office of Court
Administration of the Texas Judicial System under this section and
under a reporting plan developed by the Task Force on Indigent
Defense under Section 71.061(a).
[(e) On receipt of information required under this section,
the Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System
shall forward the information to the Task Force on Indigent
Defense.]
SECTION 2. Sections 71.053(a) and (b), Government Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) The governor shall appoint with the advice and consent
of the senate five members of the Task Force on Indigent Defense as
follows:
(1) one member who is a [an active] district judge
serving as a presiding judge of an administrative judicial region;
(2) one member who is a judge of a constitutional
county court or who is a county commissioner;
(3) one member who is a practicing criminal defense
attorney;
(4) one member who is a public defender or who is
employed by a public defender; and
(5) one member who is a judge of a constitutional
county court or who is a county commissioner of a county with a
population of 250,000 or more.
(b) The members serve staggered terms of two years, with two
members' terms expiring February 1 of each odd-numbered year and
three [two] members' terms expiring February 1 of each
even-numbered year.
SECTION 3. Section 71.059(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The State Grants Team of the Governor's Office of
Budget, [and] Planning, and Policy may assist the Task Force on
Indigent Defense in identifying grants and other resources
available for use by the task force in performing its duties under
this subchapter.
SECTION 4. Section 71.061(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) The Task Force on Indigent Defense shall annually submit
to the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house of
representatives, and council and shall publish in written and
electronic form a report:
(1) containing the information submitted [forwarded
to the task force from the Office of Court Administration of the
Texas Judicial System] under Section 71.0351 [71.0351(e)]; and
(2) regarding:
(A) the quality of legal representation provided
by counsel appointed to represent indigent defendants;
(B) current indigent defense practices in the
state as compared to state and national standards;
(C) efforts made by the task force to improve
indigent defense practices in the state; and
(D) recommendations made by the task force for
improving indigent defense practices in the state.
SECTION 5. Section 2(d), Article 11.071, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
(d) The court of criminal appeals shall adopt rules for the
appointment of attorneys as counsel under this section and the
convicting court may appoint an attorney as counsel under this
section only if the appointment is approved by the court of criminal
appeals in any manner provided by those rules. The rules must
require that an attorney appointed as lead counsel under this
section not have been found by a federal or state court to have
rendered ineffective assistance of counsel during the trial or
appeal of any capital case.
SECTION 6. Article 26.044(a), Code of Criminal Procedure,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) In this chapter:
(1) "Governmental entity" includes a county, a group
of counties, a branch or agency of a county, an administrative
judicial region created by Section 74.042, Government Code, and any
entity created under the Interlocal Cooperation Act as permitted by
Chapter 791, Government Code.
(2) "Public[, "public] defender" means a governmental
entity or nonprofit corporation:
(A) [(1)] operating under a written agreement
with a governmental entity, other than an individual judge or
court;
(B) [(2)] using public funds; and
(C) [(3)] providing legal representation and
services to indigent defendants accused of a crime or juvenile
offense, as those terms are defined by Section 71.001, Government
Code.
SECTION 7. Article 26.052(d), Code of Criminal Procedure,
is amended to read as follows:
(d)(1) The committee shall adopt standards for the
qualification of attorneys to be appointed to represent indigent
defendants in capital cases in which the death penalty is sought.
(2) The standards must require that a trial [an]
attorney appointed as lead counsel to a capital [death penalty]
case or an attorney appointed as lead appellate counsel in the
direct appeal of a capital case:
(A) be a member of the State Bar of Texas;
(B) exhibit proficiency and commitment to
providing quality representation to defendants in death penalty
cases;
(C) have not been found by a federal or state
court to have rendered ineffective assistance of counsel during the
trial or appeal of any capital case;
(D) have at least five years of experience in
criminal litigation;
(E) [(D)] have tried to a verdict as lead defense
counsel a significant number of felony cases, including homicide
trials and other trials for offenses punishable as second or first
degree felonies or capital felonies;
(F) [(E)] have trial experience in:
(i) the use of and challenges to mental
health or forensic expert witnesses; and
(ii) investigating and presenting
mitigating evidence at the penalty phase of a death penalty trial;
and
(G) [(F)] have participated in continuing legal
education courses or other training relating to criminal defense in
death penalty cases.
(3) The committee shall prominently post the standards
in each district clerk's office in the region with a list of
attorneys qualified for appointment.
(4) Not later than the second anniversary of the date
an attorney is placed on the list of attorneys qualified for
appointment in death penalty cases and each year following the
second anniversary, the attorney must present proof to the
committee that the attorney has successfully completed the minimum
continuing legal education requirements of the State Bar of Texas,
including a course or other form of training relating to the defense
of death penalty cases. The committee shall remove the attorney's
name from the list of qualified attorneys if the attorney fails to
provide the committee with proof of completion of the continuing
legal education requirements.
SECTION 8. The court of criminal appeals shall amend rules
adopted under Section 2(d), Article 11.071, Code of Criminal
Procedure, as necessary to comply with that section, as amended by
this Act, not later than January 1, 2006.
SECTION 9. A local selection committee shall amend
standards previously adopted by the committee to conform with the
requirements of Article 26.052(d), Code of Criminal Procedure, as
amended by this Act, not later than the 75th day after the effective
date of this Act. An attorney appointed to a death penalty case on
or after the 75th day after the effective date of this Act must meet
the standards adopted in conformity with the amended Article
26.052(d). An attorney appointed to a death penalty case before the
75th day after the effective date of this Act is covered by the law
in effect when the attorney was appointed, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect immediately if it
receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1701 was passed by the House on April
27, 2005, by a non-record vote; and that the House concurred in
Senate amendments to H.B. No. 1701 on May 28, 2005, by a non-record
vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1701 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 24, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor