KRS § 31.030 — KY Code / Title IV / Chapter 31 / Section 31.030
31.030 Authority and duties of department
Status: in_force

31.030 Authority and duties of department.

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.