47-1-105. Commission -- duties -- report -- rules. The commission shall supervise and direct the system. In addition to other duties assigned pursuant to this chapter, the commission shall:
     (1) (a) establish the qualifications, duties, and compensation of the chief public defender, as provided in 47-1-201, appoint a chief public defender after considering qualified applicants, and regularly evaluate the performance of the chief public defender; and
     (b) establish the qualifications, duties, and compensation of the chief appellate defender, as provided in 47-1-205, appoint a chief appellate defender after considering qualified applicants, and regularly evaluate the performance of the chief appellate defender;
     (2) establish statewide standards for the qualification and training of attorneys providing public defender services to ensure that services are provided by competent counsel and in a manner that is fair and consistent throughout the state. The standards must take into consideration:
     (a) the level of education and experience that is necessary to competently handle certain cases and case types, such as criminal, juvenile, abuse and neglect, civil commitment, capital, and other case types, including cases on appeal, in order to provide effective assistance of counsel;
     (b) acceptable caseloads and workload monitoring protocols to ensure that public defender workloads are manageable;
     (c) access to and use of necessary professional services, such as paralegal, investigator, and other services that may be required to support a public defender in a case;
     (d) continuing education requirements for public defenders and support staff;
     (e) practice standards;
     (f) performance criteria; and
     (g) performance evaluation protocols.
     (3) review and approve the strategic plan and budget proposals submitted by the chief public defender, the administrative director, and the chief appellate defender;
     (4) review and approve any proposal to create permanent staff positions;
     (5) establish and oversee a conflicts office with a conflicts manager responsible for conflicts of interest and for ensuring that cases involving a conflict of interest are handled according to professional ethical standards;
     (6) establish policies and procedures for handling excess caseloads;
     (7) establish policies and procedures to ensure that detailed expenditure and caseload data is collected, recorded, and reported to support strategic planning efforts for the system;
     (8) adopt administrative rules pursuant to the Montana Administrative Procedure Act to implement the provisions of this chapter; and
     (9) submit a biennial report to the governor, the supreme court, and the legislature, as provided in 5-11-210. Each interim, the commission shall also specifically report to the law and justice interim committee established pursuant to 5-5-202 and 5-5-226. The report must cover the preceding biennium and include:
     (a) all policies or procedures in effect for the operation and administration of the statewide public defender system;
     (b) all standards established or being considered by the commission, the chief public defender, or the chief appellate defender;
     (c) the number of deputy public defenders and the region supervised by each;
     (d) the number of public defenders employed or contracted with in the system, identified by region;
     (e) the number of attorney and nonattorney staff supervised by each deputy public defender;
     (f) the number of new cases in which counsel was assigned to represent a party, identified by region, court, and case type;
     (g) the total number of persons represented by the office and the office of appellate defender, identified by region, court, and case type;
     (h) the annual caseload and workload of each public defender, except for the chief public defender, and of the office of appellate defender, identified by region, court, and case type;
     (i) the training programs conducted by the office and the number of attorney and nonattorney staff who attended each program;
     (j) the continuing education courses on criminal defense or criminal procedure attended by each public defender employed or contracted with in the system; and
     (k) detailed expenditure data by court and case type.

     History: En. Sec. 6, Ch. 449, L. 2005; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 24, L. 2011; amd. Sec. 6, Ch. 344, L. 2011.