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.
(a) The circuit public defender in each judicial circuit may employ additional assistant circuit public defenders, deputy circuit public defenders, or other attorneys, investigators, paraprofessionals, clerical assistants, and other employees or independent contractors if the employment of such additional personnel is provided for by local law or if the employment of such additional personnel is specifically authorized and funded by the governing authority of the county or counties comprising the judicial circuit. The circuit public defender shall define the duties and fix the title of any attorney or other employee of the office of the circuit public defender. (b) Personnel employed by the circuit public defender pursuant to this Code section shall serve at the pleasure of the circuit public defender and shall be compensated by the county or counties comprising the judicial circuit in the manner and in an amount fixed either by local Act or by the circuit public defender with the specific approval of the county or counties comprising the judicial circuit.
History
Code 1981, § 17-12-31, enacted by Ga. L. 2003, p. 191, § 1; Ga. L. 2008, p. 846, § 35/HB 1245.
Annotations
Law reviews. - For comment, ‘‘The
Guiding Hand of Counsel: Effective Representation for Indigent Defendants in the Cordele Judicial Circuit,’’ see 66 Mercer L. Rev. 781 (2015).
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
6
cases (
2 in the last 5 years), 1991–2025 · leading case:
Duke v. State, 856 S.E.2d 250 (Ga. 2021).
Duke v. State, 856 S.E.2d 250 (Ga. 2021).
· cites it 4× “See OCGA § 17-12-31 (a). It is clear that “other attorneys” refers to attorneys who do not work in circuit public defender offices.”
Schlau v. State, 582 S.E.2d 243 (Ga. Ct. App. 2003).
· cites it 2× “” OCGA § 17-12-31 (1). *305 The Georgia Criminal Justice Act defines an “indigent person” as one “who is unable, without undue hardship, to employ the legal services of an attorney or to defray the necessary expenses of legal representation.”
In re Straughan, 400 S.E.2d 906 (Ga. 1991).
· cites it 2× “] OCGA § 17-12-31 (1) and (2). The situation presented here is one of the times when a preset, fixed fee is not of financial benefit to the county.”
DeKalb Cnty. v. Adams, 529 S.E.2d 610 (Ga. 2000).
· cites it 2× “” OCGA § 17-12-31. Adams raised for the first time on appeal the contention that conditions at the jail *404 have resulted in such a coercive atmosphere that pre-trial detainees feel compelled to plead guilty to criminal charges in order to obtain transfer to State authorities.”
Jackson v. State, 583 S.E.2d 37 (Ga. 2003).
· cites it 2× “The vast majority of the fee request covers pre-trial work 4 and nothing in the trial court’s order or comments in the record suggests that the services rendered prior to trial were unreasonable, excessive, redundant, or unnecessary.”
Miller v. Georgia Pub. Def. Standards Council (M.D. Ga. 2025).
“§ 17-12-31(a) (“The circuit public defender shall define the duties and fix the title of any attorney or other employee of the office of the circuit public defender.”
— 17-12-31(a) — 1 case
Miller v. Georgia Pub. Def. Standards Council (M.D. Ga. 2025).
“§ 17-12-31(a) (“The circuit public defender shall define the duties and fix the title of any attorney or other employee of the office of the circuit public defender.”
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