Montana Code 47-1-202. Public defender division administrator — duties
47-1-202. Public defender division administrator — duties. (1) In addition to the duties provided in 47-1-201 and subject to approval by the director, the public defender division administrator shall:
Terms Used In Montana Code 47-1-202
- Court: means the supreme court, a district court, a youth court, a justice's court, a municipal court, or a city court. See Montana Code 47-1-103
- Director: means the director of the office of state public defender hired by the director of the department of administration as provided in 2-15-1029. See Montana Code 47-1-103
- Indigent: means that a person has been determined under the provisions of 47-1-111 to be indigent and financially unable to retain private counsel. See Montana Code 47-1-103
- Public defender: Represent defendants who can't afford an attorney in criminal matters.
- Public defender: means an attorney employed by or under contract with the office and assigned to provide legal counsel to a person under the provisions of this chapter, including attorneys employed by or under contract with the appellate defender division and the conflict defender division. See Montana Code 47-1-103
(a)develop and implement a regional strategic plan for the delivery of public defender services;
(b)ensure that administrative management procedures for regional offices are consistent with the policies and procedures provided by the central services division established in 47-1-119;
(c)establish procedures for managing caseloads and assigning cases in a manner that ensures that public defenders are assigned cases according to experience, training, and manageable caseloads and taking into account case complexity, the severity of charges and potential punishments, and the legal skills required to provide effective assistance of counsel;
(d)establish policies and procedures for assigning counsel in capital cases that are consistent with standards issued by the Montana supreme court for counsel for indigent persons in capital cases;
(e)work with the training coordinator provided for in 47-1-120 to establish and supervise a training and performance evaluation program for attorneys and nonattorney staff members and contractors;
(f)work with the central services division to establish procedures to handle complaints about public defender performance; and
(g)perform all other duties assigned by the director pursuant to this chapter.
(2)The public defender division administrator may not maintain a client caseload.