Revise laws related to public defenders for clarity
HB 102 revises the laws governing the Office of State Public Defender, affecting its organizational structure and operations. It establishes a distinction between "conflict" and "nonconflict" regional public defender offices and updates the duties of various division administrators. Key provisions include new responsibilities for administrators in developing strategic plans, managing caseloads, and establishing policies for assigning cases based on experience and complexity, including capital cases. The bill also modifies the Central Services Division's role to include managing contracted services and agency training efforts. These changes aim to clarify how public defense services are delivered to indigent clients.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Dec 2024
Committee Review
Apr 2025
House Passage
Apr 2025
Senate Passage
Apr 2025
Signed into Law
May 2025
Introduced Dec 16, 2024
Signed May 5, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons
What changed between versions
HB0102_1(9).pdf
→
HB0102_X.pdf
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5 edits
MODERATE
This bill reorganizes the Office of State Public Defender by creating distinct roles for conflict and appellate divisions, separating their administrative duties from direct case management. It clarifies that the Conflict Defender Division Administrator cannot maintain a caseload, while the Appellate Defender Division Administrator may maintain a minimum caseload. The bill also updates personnel titles to include 'Regional Public Defenders' and revises the responsibilities of the Central Services Division to better manage contracted services and training.
Scope change
The bill expands the scope of the Office of State Public Defender by formally distinguishing between conflict and non-conflict regional offices and adding specific duties for new division administrators.
REQUIREMENT
Added a new role for the Conflict Defender Division Administrator with specific duties to manage conflict regional offices and assign cases based on complexity and experience.
Modified the Conflict Defender Division Administrator's role to explicitly prohibit maintaining a client caseload, separating administrative management from direct representation.
Modified the Appellate Defender Division Administrator's role to allow maintaining a minimum client caseload as determined by the director.
Revised the Central Services Division's responsibilities to include managing contracted services and agency training efforts.
DEFINITION
Added the title 'Regional Public Defender' to the personnel structure to distinguish regional management from other roles.
Floor votes · Senate Apr 8, 2025 · House Jan 24, 2025
How they voted
39–9
Passed · 2 other
Total votes 50
Apr 8, 2025
D
Democratic18
94% Yea
R
Republican32
68% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
51
Key actions
11
Committee
9
May 1, 2025
Signed into law
(H) Signed by Governor
lower
Apr 22, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Signed by President
upper
Apr 18, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Signed by Speaker
lower
Apr 8, 2025
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (39-9-2)
senate
Apr 7, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Report - (S) Finance and Claims
upper
Apr 7, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) Finance and Claims
upper
Mar 20, 2025
Committee
(S) Rereferred to Committee - (S) Finance and Claims
upper
Feb 12, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Report - (S) Judiciary
upper
Feb 11, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) Judiciary
upper
Jan 27, 2025
Committee
(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Judiciary
upper
Jan 24, 2025
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (60-38-2)
house
Jan 20, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Report - (H) Judiciary
lower
Jan 20, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Judiciary
lower
Dec 20, 2024
Committee
(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Judiciary
lower
Dec 16, 2024
Introduced
(H) Introduced
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Jade Sooktis
DDemocratic
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