Kentucky Revised Statutes

Ky. Rev. Stat. § 31.030 (2026)

Authority and duties of department

✓ current as of May 2026

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The authority and duties of the Department of Public Advocacy shall include but are not limited to:

(1) Administering the statewide public advocacy system created by this chapter or by any other appropriate legislation or court decision;

(2) Developing and promulgating standards and administrative regulations, rules, and procedures for administration of the defense of indigent defendants in criminal cases that the public advocate, statutes, or the courts determine are subject to public assistance;

(3) Determining necessary personnel for the department and appointing staff attorneys, who shall be "assistant public advocates," and non-lawyer assistants within the merit system, subject to available funding and employee allotments;

(4) Maintaining and exercising control over the department's information technology system, and working with the Commonwealth Office of Technology to ensure that the department's information technology is in conformity with the requirements of state government;

(5) Conducting research into, and developing and implementing methods of, improving the operation of the criminal justice system with regard to indigent defendants and other defendants in criminal actions, including participation in groups, organizations, and projects dedicated to improving representation of defendants in criminal actions in particular, or the interests of indigent or impoverished persons in general;

(6) Issuing rules, promulgating administrative regulations, and establishing standards as may be reasonably necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter, the decisions of the United States Supreme Court, the decisions of the Kentucky Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and other applicable court decisions or statutes;

(7) Being authorized to pursue legal, administrative, and other appropriate remedies to ensure the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities;

(8) Being authorized to purchase liability insurance for the protection of all full-time public advocates, deputy public advocates, and assistant public advocates to protect them from liability for malpractice arising in the course or scope of employment and for the protection of attorneys with whom the Department of Public Advocacy contracts to protect them from liability for malpractice arising in the course or scope of the contract;

(9) Being authorized to seek and apply for and solicit funds for the operation of the defense of indigent persons or protection of the persons with disabilities programs from any source, public or private, and to receive donations, grants, awards, and similar funds from any legal source. Those funds shall be placed in a special account for the Department of Public Advocacy and those funds shall not lapse;

(10) Being authorized to assign an attorney, including a conflict attorney under a plan, for good cause, at any stage of representation, including trial, appeal, or other post- conviction or post-disposition proceeding, including discharge revocation hearings, preliminary parole revocation hearings, and conditional discharge revocation hearings, regardless of whether the hearings are conducted by constitutional judges or executive branch administrative law judges;

(11) Filing with the Legislative Research Commission an annual report, by September 30 of each year, setting forth the total number of cases assigned to the department, the average number of cases per department attorney, all funding available to the department, the average amount of state funds expended per assigned case, and any other information requested by the Legislative Research Commission or that the public advocate finds necessary to inform the General Assembly, the judicial or executive branches, or the public of the activities conducted by the department during the previous fiscal year; and

(12) Do other activities and institute other programs as necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter, or those decisions or statutes which are the subject of this section.

(13) (a) Within sixty (60) days of the end of each fiscal year, the department shall submit to the cabinet and the Legislative Research Commission for referral to the Interim Joint Committees on Judiciary and Families and Children a report detailing:

1. The number of alternative sentencing plans submitted to courts that recommended treatment by providers that were nonqualified treatment programs;

2. A breakdown of the number of such plans that were approved, denied, or amended by the courts; and

3. A listing of all treatment programs recommended that did not meet the requirements of a qualified treatment program.

(b) As counsel appointed to provide legal representation to an individual under KRS Chapter 31, the department or defense counsel serves at the direction or request of the represented individual and may make recommendations for substance abuse treatment services from a treatment provider that is not a qualified treatment program but shall adhere to the reporting requirements in KRS 222.427(3).

(14) Alternative sentencing workers as defined in KRS 31.252 shall be required to:

(a) Obtain a minimum of twelve (12) hours of continuing education pertaining to substance use disorder; and

(b) Comply with KRS 222.429. Effective: July 15, 2024 History: Amended 2024 Ky. Acts ch. 68, sec. 6, effective July 15, 2024. -- Amended 2023 Ky. Acts ch. 144, sec. 1, effective July 1, 2024. -- Amended 2014 Ky. Acts ch. 87, sec. 2, effective July 15, 2014. -- Amended 2012 Ky. Acts ch. 151, sec. 4, effective July 12, 2012. -- Amended 2002 Ky. Acts ch. 283, sec. 3, effective July 15, 2002. -- Amended 1978 Ky. Acts ch. 155, sec. 21, effective June 17, 1978. -- Amended 1976 (1st Extra. Sess.) Ky. Acts ch. 14, sec. 8. -- Created 1972 Ky. Acts ch. 353, sec. 3.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 9 cases (4 in the last 5 years), 1978–2026 · leading case: Moore v. Commonwealth, 199 S.W.3d 132 (Ky. 2006).

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Moore v. Commonwealth, 199 S.W.3d 132 (Ky. 2006). · cites it 6× “071(1)(b) ("In order to be qualified for appointment as [local] public advocate, a person must have been admitted to the practice of law and licensed to practice in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and be competent to counsel and defend a person charged with a crime.”

Pillersdorf v. Dep't of Pub. Advocacy, 890 S.W.2d 616 (Ky. 1994). · cites it 4× “KRS 31.030(5) and (6). Consequently, in counties which lack a local plan pursuant to KRS 31.”

McQueen v. Commonwealth, 949 S.W.2d 70 (Ky. 1997). · cites it 2× “In his present motion, he reiterates his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, this time asserting that the entire litigation staff of the Department of Public Advocacy, including its present director, conspired to deprive him of the assistance required by KRS 31.”

Ex Parte Farley, 570 S.W.2d 617 (Ky. 1978). “KRS 31.030. Despite this legislative designation of his office as an independent agency of state government, the Public Advocate is “directly responsible” to the Secretary of Justice.”

David Wayne Bailey v. Shannon Jones (Ky. 2019). · cites it 4× “030 provides in pertinent part that the authority and duties of the Department of Public Advocacy include but are not limited to: 41 (1) Administering the statewide public advocacy system created by this chapter or by any other appropriate legislation or court decision; (4)…”

Farmer v. Gonzalez (E.D. Ky. 2022). · cites it 2× “010(1)–(2) (providing that the purpose of public defenders in Kentucky is to provide legal representation to “indigent persons accused of crimes” and protect “the rights of persons with disabilities”); see also Ky. Rev. Stat. § 31.030(1)–(15) (granting public defenders specific…”

O'Bannon v. McMahon (W.D. Ky. 2025). · cites it 2× “See Ky. Rev. Stat. § 31.030 (2024); 2023 KY H.”

O'Bannon (W.D. Ky. 2026). · cites it 2× “See Ky. Rev. Stat. § 31.030 (2024); 2023 KY H.”

Forrest (W.D. Ky. 2026). “§ 31.030 (2024); 2023 KY H.B. 568. The Court will refer to this defendant as “DPA” herein.”

— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 31.030(1) — 1 case

Farmer v. Gonzalez (E.D. Ky. 2022). “010(1)–(2) (providing that the purpose of public defenders in Kentucky is to provide legal representation to “indigent persons accused of crimes” and protect “the rights of persons with disabilities”); see also Ky. Rev. Stat. § 31.030(1)–(15) (granting public defenders specific…”

— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 31.030(13) — 1 case

David Wayne Bailey v. Shannon Jones (Ky. 2019). “030 provides in pertinent part that the authority and duties of the Department of Public Advocacy include but are not limited to: 41 (1) Administering the statewide public advocacy system created by this chapter or by any other appropriate legislation or court decision; (4)…”

— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 31.030(2) — 1 case

McQueen v. Commonwealth, 949 S.W.2d 70 (Ky. 1997). “In his present motion, he reiterates his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, this time asserting that the entire litigation staff of the Department of Public Advocacy, including its present director, conspired to deprive him of the assistance required by KRS 31.”

— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 31.030(5) — 1 case

Pillersdorf v. Dep't of Pub. Advocacy, 890 S.W.2d 616 (Ky. 1994). “KRS 31.030(5) and (6). Consequently, in counties which lack a local plan pursuant to KRS 31.”

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