1. If a corrective action plan is recommended pursuant to NRS 180.440, the deputy director and the board of county commissioners must collaborate on the manner in which the county will meet the minimum standards for the provision of indigent defense services and the time by which the county must meet those minimum standards. Any disagreement must be resolved by the Board. Each corrective action plan must be submitted to and approved by the Board.
2. If the plan established pursuant to subsection 1 will cause the county to expend more money than budgeted by the county in the previous budget year plus inflation for the provision of indigent defense services, the Executive Director shall include the additional amount needed by the county in the next budget for the Department of Indigent Defense Services to help support the indigent defense services provided by the county. If additional money is needed to carry out the plan before the next budget cycle, the Executive Director shall submit a request to the Interim Finance Committee for an allocation from the Contingency Account pursuant to NRS 353.266 to cover the additional costs.
3. For any county that is not required to have an office of public defender pursuant to NRS 260.010, if the additional amount included in the budget of the Department pursuant to subsection 2 is not approved, the board of county commissioners for the county to which the amount applies may determine whether to continue providing indigent defense services for the county or enter into an agreement with the Executive Director to transfer responsibility for the provision of such services to the State Public Defender.
4. If a county does not meet the minimum standards for the provision of indigent defense services within the period established in the corrective action plan for the county, the deputy director shall inform the Executive Director.
5. Upon being informed by the deputy director pursuant to subsection 4 that a county has not complied with a corrective action plan, the Executive Director must review information regarding the provision of indigent defense services in the county and determine whether to recommend establishing another corrective action plan with the board of county commissioners of the county. For a county that is not required to have an office of public defender pursuant to NRS 260.010, the Executive Director may instead recommend requiring the board of county commissioners to transfer responsibility for the provision of all indigent defense services for the county to the State Public Defender. The recommendation of the Executive Director must be submitted to and approved by the Board. Once approved, the board of county commissioners shall comply with the decision of the Board.
6. If a county is required to transfer or voluntarily transfers responsibility for the provision of all indigent defense services for the county to the State Public Defender:
(a) The board of county commissioners for the county shall notify the State Public Defender in writing on or before March 1 of the next odd-numbered year and the responsibilities must transfer at a specified time on or after July 1 of the same year in which the notice was given, as determined by the Executive Director.
(b) The board of county commissioners for the county shall pay the State Public Defender in the same manner and in an amount determined in the same manner as other counties for which the State Public Defender has responsibility for the provision of indigent defense services. The amount that a county may be required to pay must not exceed the maximum amount determined using the formula established by the Board pursuant to NRS 180.320.
(Added to NRS by 2019, 2885)