Bills › 88th General Assembly
Relating to the state public defender pilot project and legal representation in child welfare cases
Sponsored by the Senate Judiciary Committee
Where it is now
- Done: IntroducedJanuary 15, 2020
- Done: SubcommitteeJanuary 15, 2020
- Done: Senate committeeFebruary 5, 2020
- Done: Passes the SenateJune 4, 202049–0
- Skipped: House committeeSkipped
- Done: Passes the HouseJune 10, 2020
- Done: To the GovernorJune 16, 2020
- Done: Signed into lawJune 17, 2020
Signed into law What’s a funnel?
What’s in it
AI summary The state public defender can start a special program in up to six counties to change how lawyers represent parents and children in the child welfare system. This project allows the public defender to work with other groups, apply for grants, and hire lawyers to help people who cannot afford them. These lawyers can start helping families even before a formal court case begins.1
Read the official explanation
This bill permits the state public defender to establish a pilot project beginning July 1, 2020, and ending June 30, 2024, to implement innovative models of parental and child legal representation in order to assist families involved in the child welfare system. The bill specifies that the state public defender shall have sole discretion to establish the pilot project in no more than six counties throughout the state. The bill allows the state public defender to coordinate with other agencies and organizations in order to implement the pilot project, seek grant funding, and measure the results. The bill also allows the state public defender to appoint an attorney to represent an indigent person prior to initiation of formal proceedings, without court order, if such representation is deemed appropriate by the state public defender and relates to the purposes of the pilot project. The bill allows attorneys appointed through the pilot project to be paid from the indigent defense fund.
Senate subcommittee
Named January 15, 2020 (as SSB 3039). On January 28, 2020 it recommended passage.
Three legislators hear a bill first and recommend what the committee should do; it’s the best time to weigh in. How to take part