Effective: October 17, 2019
Latest Legislation: House Bill 166 - 133rd General Assembly
(A) The joint county public defender commission's report to the joint board of county commissioners shall be audited by the fiscal officer of the district. The joint board of county commissioners, after review and approval of the audited report, may then certify it to the state public defender for reimbursement. If a request for the reimbursement of any operating expenditure incurred by a joint county public defender office is not received by the state public defender within sixty days after the end of the calendar month in which the expenditure is incurred, the state public defender shall not pay the requested reimbursement, unless the joint board of county commissioners has requested, and the state public defender has granted, an extension of the sixty-day time limit. Each request for reimbursement shall include a certification by the joint county public defender that all persons provided representation by the joint county public defender's office during the period covered by the request were indigent and, for each person provided representation during that period, a financial disclosure form completed by the person on a form prescribed by the state public defender. The state public defender shall also review the report and, in accordance with the standards, guidelines, and maximums established pursuant to divisions (B)(7) and (8) of section 120.04 of the Revised Code and the payment determination provisions of section 120.34 of the Revised Code, prepare a voucher for the cost of each joint county public defender's office for the period of time covered by the certified report and a voucher for the costs and expenses that are reimbursable under section 120.35 of the Revised Code, if any. The amount of payments to be included in and made under the voucher shall be determined as specified in section 120.34 of the Revised Code. For purposes of this section, "cost" means total expenses minus costs and expenses reimbursable under section 120.35 of the Revised Code and any funds received by the joint county public defender commission pursuant to a contract, except a contract entered into with a municipal corporation pursuant to division (E) of section 120.24 of the Revised Code, gift, or grant. Each county in the district shall be entitled to a share of such state reimbursement in proportion to the percentage of the cost it has agreed to pay.
(B) If the joint county public defender fails to maintain the standards for the conduct of the office established by the rules of the Ohio public defender commission pursuant to divisions (B) and (C) of section 120.03 or the standards established by the state public defender pursuant to division (B)(7) of section 120.04 of the Revised Code, the Ohio public defender commission shall notify the joint county public defender commission and the board of county commissioners of each county in the district that the joint county public defender has failed to comply with its rules or the standards of the state public defender. Unless the joint public defender commission or the joint county public defender corrects the conduct of the joint county public defender's office to comply with the rules and standards within ninety days after the date of the notice, the state public defender may deny all or part of the counties' reimbursement from the state provided for in division (A) of this section.