O.C.G.A. § 17-12-30 (2019)
Classification of personnel; responsibilities; compensation; local supplements
Sec.
LEGAL DEFENSE FOR INDIGENTS Sec.
Employment of additional personnel. Contracting with the council for personnel paid by local government. Assistant public defenders’ private practice of law or concurrent judicial service prohibited; admission to bar in Georgia. Pro rata sharing of expenses and resources by counties in each circuit. Acceptance of other funding. Alternative delivery system; annual review of operations by council; record keeping. Effective date of article.
cords; limited period of assistance. Exception to qualification requirements for public defender or assistant public defender. Effective date of article. Article 3A Recovery of Attorney’s Fees and Costs Definitions. Repayment of attorney’s fees as condition of probation. Recovery of payment or reimbursement by a county or municipality. Article 4 Verification of Indigency Article 3 Assistance by Third-Year Law Students or Staff Instructors Verification of indigency required; procedure; timing of notification of eligibility.
Definitions. Assistance of public defender by third-year law student or staff instructor. Judge may prescribe type of assistance provided by law student or staff instructor; certification by law school dean. Clerk of court to maintain re- 17-12-100 through 17-12-108. [Repealed].
Annotations
Cross references. - Constitutional guarantee of access to courts, Ga. Const. 1983, Art. I, Sec. I, Para. XII. Constitutional guarantee of benefit of counsel, Ga. Const. 1983, Art. I, Sec. I, Para. XIV.
Administrative rules and regulations. - Grants of Georgia Indigent Defense Council, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Title 294.
Article 5 Office of Multicounty Public Defender Article 6 Georgia Capital Defender 17-12-120 through 17-12-128. [Repealed].
RESEARCH REFERENCES ALR. - Right of indigent defendant in state criminal case to assistance of fingerprint expert, 72 A.L.R.4th 874.
Right of indigent defendant in state criminal case to assistance of expert in social attitudes, 74 A.L.R.4th 330.
ARTICLE 1 GEORGIA PUBLIC DEFENDER COUNCIL
Cross references. - Provision of legal services to indigents by law students, T. 15, C. 20. Application and appointment of counsel, Uniform State Court Rules, Rule 29.2. Editor’s notes. - Ga. L. 2003, p. 191, § 1, effective December 31, 2003, repealed the Code sections formerly codified as this article, and enacted the current article. The former article consisted of Code Sections §§ 17-12-1 through 17-12-14, relating to local indigent defense programs, and was based on Ga. L. 1968, p. 999, §§ 1 - 13; Ga. L. 1974, p. 1100, § 1; Ga. L. 1982, p. 1181, §§ 1, 2.
U.S. Code. - Right to and assignment of counsel, Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 44.
Law reviews. - For article, ‘‘The Indigent Defendant in Georgia Prior to
Gideon v. Wainwright,’’ see 2 Ga. St. B.J. 207 (1965). For article discussing legal representation for indigents under the Georgia Criminal Justice Defense Act, proposed in Georgia in 1977, see 13 Ga. St. B.J. 141 (1977). For article, ‘‘Raising the Bar: Indigent Defense and the Right to a Partisan Lawyer,’’ see 69 Mercer L. Rev. 697 (2018). For article, ‘‘Privileging Public Defense Research,’’ see 69 Mercer L. Rev. 771 (2018). For note on the 2003 enactment of this article, see 20 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 105 (2003). For comment on Argersinger v. Hamlin, 407 U.S. 25, 92 S. Ct. 2006, 32 L. Ed. 2d 530 (1972), establishing an indigent’s right to appointed counsel in nonfelony criminal cases, see 22 J. of Pub. L. 191 (1973).
JUDICIAL DECISIONS Editor’s notes. - In light of the similarity of the issues dealt with, decisions under former Ga. L. 1968, p. 999, and T. 17, C. 12, Art. 1 are included in the annotations for this article. Article not exclusive method for providing indigents right to counsel. - While the former Georgia Criminal Justice Act should have provided effective means of affording counsel to indigent defendants, it was not the exclusive method for accomplishing that end. Perry v. State, 120 Ga. App. 304, 170 S.E.2d 350 (1969) (decided under former Ga. L. 1968, p. 999). Inadequacy of ‘‘Declaration of Indigency’’ form as indirectly denying defendant right to appointed counsel. - See Stapp v. State, 249 Ga. 289, 290 S.E.2d 439 (1982) (decided under former Ga. L. 1968, p. 999). Remand was required since the record did not show how it was determined
that the defendant did not qualify for appointed legal assistance and revealed that the trial court failed to exercise the court’s affirmative duty of determining whether the defendant exercised reasonable diligence in attempting to retain counsel. McQueen v. State, 228 Ga. App. 732, 492 S.E.2d 720 (1997) (decided under former O.C.G.A. T. 17, C. 12, Art. 1). Insufficiency of record on appeal. - Since it was not clear from the record that when the defendant received the court’s order the defendant was required to provide proof of indigency, whether the court considered the defendant’s proof of indigency, or whether the court found that the court could not determine indigency due to the defendant’s failure or refusal to provide the necessary proof of indigency, the case was remanded for a hearing to determine whether or not the defendant was indigent. Mapp v. State, 199 Ga. App. 47, 403 S.E.2d 833 (1991) (decided under former O.C.G.A. T. 17, C. 12, Art. 1).
RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. - 21 Am. Jur. 2d, Criminal Law, §§ 357 et seq., 375 et seq. C.J.S. - 7A C.J.S., Attorney and Client, §§ 441 et seq. 22A C.J.S., Criminal Procedure and Rights of the Accused, § 725 et seq. ALR. - Duty to advise accused as to right to assistance of counsel, 3 A.L.R.2d 1003. Constitutionally protected right of indigent accused to appointment of counsel in state court prosecution, 93 A.L.R.2d 747.
Construction and effect of statutes providing for office of public defender, 36 A.L.R.3d 1403. Accused’s right to represent himself in state criminal proceedings - modern state cases, 98 A.L.R.3d 13. Relief available for violation of right to counsel at sentencing in state criminal trial, 65 A.L.R.4th 183. Recovery under state law of attorney’s fees by lay pro se litigant, 14 A.L.R.5th 947.