2-15-1020. Appellate defender commission -- duties -- rules. (1) There is an appellate defender commission.
     (2) The commission consists of five members appointed by the governor as follows:
     (a) one district judge nominated by the district judges under a nominating procedure initiated and conducted by the supreme court and certified by the chief justice of the supreme court;
     (b) three attorneys. In selecting the attorney appointees, the governor shall consider recommendations submitted by the president of the state bar of Montana, as follows:
     (i) at least two attorneys who are experienced in the defense of felonies, at least one of whom has served a minimum of 1 year as a full-time public defender for a governmental agency or a public corporation; and
     (ii) at least one attorney who has been licensed to practice law in this state for a minimum of 10 years.
     (c) one member of the general public who is not an attorney or a judge, active or retired.
     (3) The members shall serve staggered 3-year terms.
     (4) The commission is allocated to the department of administration for administrative purposes only pursuant to 2-15-121.
     (5) A member of the commission may not while serving a term on the commission serve as a county attorney or a deputy county attorney, the attorney general or an assistant attorney general, the United States district attorney or an assistant United States district attorney, or a law enforcement official.
     (6) Members of the commission may not receive a salary for service on the commission but must be reimbursed for expenses, as provided in 2-18-501 through 2-18-503, while actually engaged in the discharge of official duties.
     (7) The commission shall make rules for the conduct of its affairs.
     (8) The commission shall develop a system of indigent appellate defense services.
     (9) The commission shall propose to the supreme court minimum standards to which all trial and appellate public defenders, including locally appointed private counsel, shall conform.
     (10) The commission shall compile and keep current a statewide roster of attorneys eligible for appointment by an appropriate court as trial and appellate defense counsel for indigent defendants. The roster must be supplied to all justices and judges in the state.
     (11) The commission shall establish qualifications, duties, and priorities for the appellate defender, provided for in 46-8-211, not inconsistent with those established in 46-8-212.

     History: En. Sec. 2, Ch. 781, L. 1991.