It shall be the duty of the Corporation to defend indigent persons charged in criminal cases before the courts of Guam. The determination of whether a defendant is indigent and whether his case is to be referred to the Corporation shall be at the discretion of the judge before whom such defendant is appearing. The Corporation may assist the judges of the courts of Guam in ruling on cases of indigency and in establishing criteria for determining when the services of the Corporation are appropriate.

SOURCE: § 60003 GC, as enacted by P.L. 13-051.

§ 11104.1. Public Defender Assistance in Connection with
Recovery and Probate of Land Claims Awards.

The Public Defender is authorized to provide legal services in connection with the recovery of settlement shares and probate administration of land claims awards, to persons who are unable to obtain the legal services of a private attorney. No such services shall be provided unless the applicant therefor shall have produced proof, in form and substance approved by the Public Defender, that no less than three (3) private attorneys have declined to provide the requested services. The Public Defender shall not, in any event, represented any person who opposes or objects to, or who intends to oppose or object to, an application for payment of a settlement share, a petition for letters of administration or for preliminary or final distribution, or a petition pursuant to § 4906 of Title 15 of the Guam Code Annotated, the subject of which is a land claims award.

SOURCE: Added by P.L. 19-034:24:D.