Wisconsin Administrative Code › Public Defender Board › Chapter PD 2 - Assignment procedure › Section PD 2.03 - Regular assignment procedure

Current through June 24, 2024
(1) The state
			 public defender or county designee shall contact any person who claims or
			 appears to be indigent, has requested counsel, or has been referred by the
			 court to the state public defender to determine the person's eligibility for
			 appointment of an attorney by the state public defender.
(2) The state public defender and county
			 designee shall be available 24 hours per day including weekends and legal
			 holidays.
(3) The state public
			 defender or county designee shall have immediate access in person or by phone
			 to any individual held in custody, including but not limited to city or county
			 jails, detention facilities, or mental health facilities, upon request by the
			 state public defender or county designee, to advise the person of the right to
			 a free determination of the person's eligibility for appointment of an attorney
			 by the state public defender.
(4)
			 The county designee shall, upon finding a person eligible, immediately contact
			 the state public defender for purposes of assignment of counsel.
(5) The state public defender or county
			 designee shall advise all persons charged with a crime, detained for purposes
			 of juvenile or involuntary civil commitment proceedings, or otherwise facing a
			 legal proceeding which is within the scope of representation provided by the
			 state public defender, prior to their initial court appearance, that they have
			 a right to be represented by an attorney in the proceeding if found eligible.
			 The state public defender or county designee shall advise all persons of the
			 applicable repayment obligation specified in s.
			 PD
			 6.01,
			 6.05 or
			 6.055 and , if applicable, the optional
			 prepayment amount specified in s.
			 PD
			 6.02. The state public defender or county designee
			 shall also advise all persons prior to their initial appearance that they have
			 a right to a determination of their eligibility for those legal services. The
			 county designee shall forward to the state public defender on a monthly basis
			 the names, addresses, and case numbers of these persons and the dates on which
			 the contacts were made.
(6) If the
			 person is eligible for publicly compensated counsel, a representative of the
			 state public defender shall appoint counsel pursuant to s.
			 977.08,
			 Stats. If no certified counsel is available in a county governed by s.
			 977.08(5)
			 (a), Stats., appointment shall be to
			 certified private counsel in another county.
(7) If the case is to be assigned to a staff
			 attorney, a representative of the state public defender shall notify the
			 supervising attorney in the appropriate office of the state public defender who
			 shall designate a certain attorney to represent that person.
(8) If the case is assigned to local private
			 counsel, a representative of the state public defender shall immediately
			 contact the attorney whose name appears on the top of the appropriate
			 certification list and assign that attorney to represent that person. If that
			 attorney cannot accept the assignment, the next attorney on the list shall be
			 contacted and the first attorney's name shall be placed on the bottom of the
			 list as required by s.
			 977.08(3)
			 (c), Stats. If the attorney accepts the
			 assignment, that attorney's name shall be placed on the bottom of the list. The
			 director of the assigned counsel division may authorize a specific
			 representative of the state public defender to make group assignments of cases.
			 Group assignments may be made by number of cases or by designating an attorney
			 to take all cases assigned during a given time period. The director's
			 authorization shall designate the maximum number of cases in a group or the
			 maximum time period the representative may assign. Each attorney on the list of
			 the state public defender shall be offered an equal opportunity at group
			 assignment of cases. In all other respects, group assignments shall be made in
			 the manner specified for individual assignments.
(9) If the case is assigned to local private
			 counsel on a specialized list under s.
			 PD
			 1.04(6), the assignment shall serve
			 in lieu of that attorney's next appointment from the regular list.