Criminal Proceedings; the award of reasonable attorney's fees and costs in a criminal case to the defendant upon such defendant making a successful motion to disqualify the prosecuting attorney for misconduct in connection with the case; provide

Added a new chapter establishing a Wrongful Conviction and Incarceration Compensation Act for individuals seeking compensation for wrongful convictions.

Created the Wrongful Conviction and Incarceration Compensation Trust Fund to pay compensation awards instead of using county treasury funds.

Removed provision requiring attorney fees to be paid from county treasury, replaced with office budgeted funds.

Established that administrative law judges within the Office of State Administrative Hearings must evaluate compensation claims.

Changed fee award conditions to require both prosecutorial disqualification AND subsequent case dismissal by court or prosecutor.

Added new definitions for 'Alford plea', 'Claimant', 'Prosecuting district attorney', and 'State governmental entity'.

Set a three-year filing deadline for compensation claims, with exceptions for new evidence obtained within two years of the deadline.

Added requirements for the Supreme Court and State Board of Pardons and Paroles to distribute copies of the Act to certain individuals.

Removed subsection (c) which stated that if a prosecuting attorney is disqualified but the case proceeds to trial, the defendant is entitled to fees only for the disqualification motion itself.

Removed subsection (d) which required defendants to file a separate motion for fees after the criminal case ends and specified that the assigned judge must consider and award those fees.

Removed subsection (e) which stated that attorney's fees and costs are paid from the county treasury where the criminal case was brought.

Reorganized the attorney's fees section by renumbering remaining provisions and removing the detailed procedural requirements for filing fee motions and payment sources.

Updated bill identifiers from LC 28 0678 to SB 244/FA and changed the header from 'As introduced' to 'AS PASSED SENATE'.