Procedure for Appointment of Attorneys for Indigent Defendants in Event of Public Defender's Conflict of Interest; Identification of Conflict

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Criminal Procedure
  4. Legal Defense for Indigents
  5. Public Defenders
  6. Procedure for Appointment of Attorneys for Indigent Defendants in Event of Public Defender's Conflict of Interest; Identification of Conflict

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  1. The director, with input from the council, shall establish a procedure for providing legal representation in cases where the circuit public defender office has a conflict of interest. Such procedure may include, but shall not be limited to, the appointment of individual counsel on a case-by-case basis or the utilization of another circuit public defender office. Whatever procedure the director establishes for each circuit's conflict of interest cases shall be adhered to by the circuit public defender office. It is the intent of the General Assembly that the director consider the most efficient and effective system to provide legal representation where the circuit public defender office has a conflict of interest.
  2. The circuit public defender shall establish a method for identifying conflicts of interest at the earliest possible opportunity. If there is a conflict of interest such that the circuit public defender office cannot represent a defendant and an attorney who is not employed by the circuit public defender office is appointed, such attorney shall have a contractual relationship with the council to represent indigent persons in conflict of interest cases, and such relationship may include, but shall not be limited to, a flat fee structure.
  3. Attorneys who seek appointment in conflict cases shall have such experience or training in the defense of criminal cases as is necessary in light of the complexity of the case to which he or she is appointed and shall meet such qualifications and standards for the representation of indigent defendants as are established by the council.

(Code 1981, §17-12-22, enacted by Ga. L. 2003, p. 191, § 1; Ga. L. 2008, p. 846, § 29/HB 1245; Ga. L. 2010, p. 226, § 2A/HB 889; Ga. L. 2011, p. 91, § 11/HB 238.)

Law reviews.

- For survey article on criminal law, see 59 Mercer L. Rev. 89 (2007).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Authority of trial court over withdrawal determination.

- O.C.G.A. § 17-12-22 of the Indigent Defense Act of 2003, O.C.G.A. § 17-12-1 et seq., did not remove a trial court's authority to determine whether a conflict of interest between an indigent criminal defendant and a public defender who was assigned to represent the defendant's interest required withdrawal of the defender as it only removed the appointment of assigned counsel from the trial court's authority; there was no conflict between § 17-12-22 and Ga. Unif. Super. Ct. R. 4.3, as § 17-12-22 was enacted to facilitate the identification of conflicts before a public defender undertook representation, and when a conflict arose or was discovered after representation had commenced, a trial court still had authority to determine the issue of withdrawal. Odum v. State, 283 Ga. App. 291, 641 S.E.2d 279 (2007).


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