O.C.G.A.
Code text and O.C.G.A. statutory annotations on this page reflect the 2019 Official Code of Georgia Annotated (Public.Resource.Org Release 73, 2019-08-21; public domain per Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). The Syfert case-law annotations in Notes of Decisions, below, are current.
As used in this chapter, the term: (1) ‘‘Assistant public defender’’ means an attorney who is employed by any circuit public defender. (2) ‘‘Circuit public defender’’ means the head of a public defender office providing indigent defense representation within any given judicial circuit of this state. (3) ‘‘Circuit public defender office’’ means the office of any of the several circuit public defenders. (4) ‘‘Council’’ means the Georgia Public Defender Council. (5) ‘‘Director’’ means the director of the Georgia Public Defender Council. (6) ‘‘Indigent person’’ or ‘‘indigent defendant’’ means: (A) A person charged with a misdemeanor, violation of probation, or a municipal or county offense punishable by imprisonment who earns less than 100 percent of the federal poverty guidelines unless there is evidence that the person has other resources that might reasonably be used to employ a lawyer without undue hardship on the person or his or her dependents;
(B) A juvenile charged with a delinquent act or a violation of probation punishable by detention whose parents earn less than 125 percent of the federal poverty guidelines unless there is evidence that the juvenile or his or her parents have other resources that might reasonably be used to employ a lawyer without undue hardship on the juvenile, his or her parents, or the parent’s dependents; and (C) A person charged with a felony who earns or, in the case of a juvenile, whose parents earn, less than 150 percent of the federal poverty guidelines unless there is evidence that the person has other resources that might reasonably be used to employ a lawyer without undue hardship on the person, his or her dependents, or, in the case of a juvenile, his or her parents or the parent’s dependents. In no case shall a person whose maximum income level exceeds 150 percent of the federal poverty level or, in the case of a juvenile, whose household income exceeds 150 percent of the federal poverty level be an indigent person or indigent defendant. (7) ‘‘Legislative oversight committee’’ means the Legislative Oversight Committee for the Georgia Public Defender Council. (8) ‘‘Public defender’’ means an attorney who is employed in a circuit public defender office or who represents an indigent person pursuant to this chapter.
History
Code 1981, § 17-12-2, enacted by Ga. L. 2003, p. 191, § 1; Ga. L. 2006, p. 752, § 4/SB 503; Ga. L. 2008, p.
846, § 15/HB 1245; Ga. L. 2015, p. 519, § 7-2/HB 328.
Annotations
JUDICIAL DECISIONS Indigency determination factoring in parents income appropriate. - While the issue of a defendant’s indigency for the purposes of obtaining court-appointed counsel could not be reviewed, it was not inappropriate to consider under O.C.G.A. § 17-12-2(6)(A), along with the defendant’s income, the income of the defendant’s parents as the defendant still lived at home. Thomas v. State, 297 Ga. App. 416, 677 S.E.2d 433 (2009).
Inquiry into eligibility for appointed counsel. - Trial court did not commit reversible error in failing to conduct a specific inquiry to determine the defendant’s eligibility for appointed counsel because the defendant had not previously applied for appointed counsel and expressly rejected the opportunity to do so. Longo v. City of Dunwoody, 351 Ga. App. 735, 832 S.E.2d 884 (2019), cert. denied, 2020 Ga. LEXIS 255 (Ga. 2020).
RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. - 21A Am. Jur. 2d, Criminal Law, § 1085 et seq.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
14
cases (
3 in the last 5 years), 1987–2022 · leading case:
Duke v. State, 856 S.E.2d 250 (Ga. 2021).
Duke v. State, 856 S.E.2d 250 (Ga. 2021).
· cites it 20× “) OCGA § 17-12-2 (6) (C) defines an “indigent defendant” for purposes of the IDA as [a] person charged with a felony who earns or, in the case of a juvenile, whose parents earn, less than 150 percent of the federal poverty guidelines unless there is evidence that the person has…”
ALLEN v. DAKER (& Vice Versa), 858 S.E.2d 731 (Ga. 2021).
· cites it 4× “” At a hearing on May 4, 2010, the trial court asked the CDO to appoint an attorney for Daker until he decided whether he wanted to hire new private counsel; Michael Syrop, a CDO public defender, 2 OCGA § 17-12-2 (6) (C) defines “indigent person” in pertinent part as: A person…”
Schlau v. State, 582 S.E.2d 243 (Ga. Ct. App. 2003).
· cites it 4× “” OCGA § 17-12-2 (5). “After ascertaining that the defendant is in fact indigent,” a trial court must appoint counsel.”
McQueen v. State, 492 S.E.2d 720 (Ga. Ct. App. 1997).
· cites it 6× “” OCGA § 17-12-2 (5). Under the uniform eligibility guidelines, qualification for court-appointed counsel is based on net income defined as “only a client’s take-home pay, which is the gross income earned by a client minus those deductions required by law or as a condition of…”
Butler v. State, 401 S.E.2d 43 (Ga. Ct. App. 1990).
· cites it 4× “]" See OCGA §§ 17-12-2 (5) and 17-12-10 (a) regarding indigency *219 vel non.”
Roberson v. State, 797 S.E.2d 104 (Ga. 2017).
“at §§ 17-12-2 (6), 17-12-24 (a). Roberson contends that the IDA makes a circuit public defender’s determination of indigence binding on a trial court faced with determining indigence for the purposes of obtaining a transcript at county expense.”
Thomas v. State, 677 S.E.2d 433 (Ga. Ct. App. 2009).
· cites it 2× “) OCGA § 17-12-2 (6) (A). This definition, to the extent applicable here, allows consideration of resources available to the defendant apart from his or her earnings.”
Fowler v. State, 360 S.E.2d 918 (Ga. Ct. App. 1987).
· cites it 2× ““Indigent person” is defined by OCGA § 17-12-2 (5) to mean “a person who is unable, without undue hardship, to employ the legal services of an attorney or to defray the necessary expenses of legal representation, determined as provided for in this article.” Provision for the…”
McQueen v. State, 522 S.E.2d 512 (Ga. Ct. App. 1999).
· cites it 2× “OCGA § 17-12-2 (5); Seay v. State, 220 Ga.”
Seay v. State, 469 S.E.2d 496 (Ga. Ct. App. 1996).
· cites it 2× “OCGA § 17-12-2 (5). But where a defendant retains trial counsel and then claims indigence on appeal, he bears the burden of making that fact known to the trial court or some responsible state official.”
Dwight Lleywilln Nails v. State (Ga. Ct. App. 2022).
· cites it 12× “OCGA § 17-12-2, whether his counsel is representing him on a pro bono basis at the present time, and whether he could have access to “state-funded ancillary defense services by contracting with either the [Georgia Public Defenders Council (GPDC)] or the appropriate circuit…”
Langston v. State, 426 S.E.2d 609 (Ga. Ct. App. 1992).
· cites it 2× “See OCGA §§ 17-12-2 (5); 17-12-10. See also Uniform Superior Court Rule 41.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
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treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.