Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 22 - CORRECTIONS, CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT › Part XV - Public Defender Board › Chapter 17 - Service Restriction Protocol › Section XV-1703 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. As used in this
				protocol, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the following terms
				shall have the following meanings.
Board
- the Louisiana Public Defender
				  Board.
Board Staff
- one or more members of the
				  executive staff of the Board as set forth in
				  R.S.
				  15:150 assigned by the board or the state
				  public defender to perform the duties set forth herein.
Case
-
case
as defined in
				  R.S.
				  15:174.C.
Caseload
- the number of cases handled by a
				  public defender service provider. The
caseload
of a district
				  is the sum of all public defender service providers' caseloads in that
				  district.
District
- the judicial district in which a
				  district defender supervises service providers and enforces standards and
				  guidelines.
District Defender
- an attorney under
				  contract with the board to supervise public defense service providers and
				  enforce standards and guidelines within a judicial district or multiple
				  judicial districts. Also known as a district public defender or chief indigent
				  defender.
District Indigent Defender Fund
- the fund
				  provided for in
				  R.S.
				  15:168.
Fiscal Crisis
- that a district indigent
				  defender fund is unable to support its expenditures with revenues received from
				  all sources and any accrued fund balance. Because a district indigent defender
				  fund may not expend amounts in excess of revenues and accrued fund balance, a
				  district facing a fiscal crisis must restrict public defense services to cut
				  back on or slow the growth of expenditures. Services should be restricted in
				  the manner that the board and the affected district defender determine to be
				  the least harmful to the continuation of public defense services within the
				  district.
Notice
- written notice given as provided
				  for herein.:
a. between the district defender and the board or board
				  staff. Notice between a district defender and the board or board staff, as
				  required in this protocol, may be given by mail, facsimile transmission or
				  electronic mail. If notice is given by certified or registered mail, notice
				  shall be effective upon receipt by the addressee. If notice is given by mail
				  that is not sent certified or registered, by facsimile transmission, or by
				  electronic mail, notice shall be effective only after the sending party
				  confirms telephonically with the receiving party that all pages, including
				  attachments, were received by the receiving party;
b. from the district defender to the court. Notice from a
				  district defender to the court, as required in this protocol, shall be given by
				  filing notice with the affected district's clerks(s) of court and
				  hand-delivering copies to the offices of the chief judge and the district
				  attorney of the affected district.;
c. from the district defender to others. Notice from a
				  district defender to persons not otherwise specified may be given by
				  hand-delivery or by certified or registered mail; notice of shall be effective
				  upon hand-delivery or deposit into the U.S. mail.
Public Defender Service Provider
- an
				  attorney who provides legal services to indigent persons in criminal
				  proceedings in which the right to counsel attaches under the United States and
				  Louisiana constitutions as a district employee or as an independent contractor.
				  Unless the context or surrounding circumstances clearly indicate otherwise, a
				  public defender service provider includes a district defender.
Rules of Professional Conduct
- the
				  Louisiana Rules of Professional Conduct.
State Public Defender
- the person employed
				  by the board pursuant to
				  R.S.
				  15:152.
Workload
- a public defender service
				  provider's caseload, including appointed and other work, adjusted by factors
				  such as case complexity, support services, and an attorney's
				  nonrepresentational duties. Non-caseload factors also include the experience
				  level of the public defense service provider, waits in courtrooms for judicial
				  priority afforded private-lawyer cases, training functions required of senior
				  lawyers to junior lawyers, travel time to and from jails and prisons where
				  clients are incarcerated, timeliness and ease of access to incarcerated
				  clients, and the number of non-English speaking clients. A workload is
				  excessive when it impairs the ability of a public defense service provider to
				  meet the ethical obligations imposed by the Rules of Professional Conduct. The
				  workload of a district is the sum of all public defender service providers'
				  workloads in that district. The workload of a district is excessive when all
				  non-supervisory public defense service providers within that district have
				  excessive workloads.
AUTHORITY NOTE:
				  Promulgated in accordance with
				  R.S.
				  15:148.