§ 47-1-105 — Director -- Duties -- Report -- Standards For Public Defender Services Qualification And Training

Montana § 47-1-105

• Jurisdiction: Montana
• Title 47: ACCESS TO LEGAL SERVICES
• Ch. 1: STATEWIDE PUBLIC DEFENDER SYSTEM
• Part 1: General

Text

47-1-105 . Director -- duties -- report -- standards for public defender services qualification and training. (1) The director shall supervise and direct the system. In addition to other duties assigned pursuant to this chapter, the director shall:
(a) establish the qualifications, duties, and compensation of the public defender division administrator provided for in 47-1-201 , hire the public defender division administrator after considering qualified applicants, and regularly evaluate the performance of the public defender division administrator;
(b) establish the qualifications, duties, and compensation of the appellate defender division administrator provided for in 47-1-301 , hire the appellate defender division administrator after considering qualified applicants, and regularly evaluate the performance of the appellate defender division administrator;
(c) establish the qualifications, duties, and compensation of the conflict defender division administrator provided for in 47-1-401 , hire the conflict defender division administrator after considering qualified applicants, and regularly evaluate the performance of the conflict defender division administrator; and
(d) establish the qualifications, duties, and compensation of the central services division administrator provided for in 47-1-119 , hire the central services division administrator after considering qualified applicants, and regularly evaluate the performance of the central services division administrator.
(2) The director shall establish statewide standards for the qualification and training of attorneys providing public defender services to ensure that services are provided by competent counsel and in a manner that is fair and consistent throughout the state. The standards must take into consideration:
(a) the level of education and experience that is necessary to competently handle certain cases and case types, such as criminal, juvenile, abuse and neglect, civil commitment, capital, and other case types, including cases on appeal, in order to provide effective assistance of counsel;
(b) acceptable caseloads and workload monitoring protocols to ensure that public defender workloads are manageable;
(c) access to and use of necessary professional services, such as paralegal, investigator, and other services that may be required to support a public defender in a case;
(d) continuing education requirements for public defenders and support staff;
(e) nationally recognized practice standards for each type of case in which the office of state public defender provides representation;
(f) performance criteria; and
(g) performance evaluation protocols.
(3) The director shall also:
(a) review and approve the strategic plan and budget;
(b) review and approve any proposal to create permanent staff positions;
(c) establish policies and procedures for handling excess caseloads;
(d) establish policies and procedures to ensure that detailed expenditure and caseload data is collected, recorded, and reported to support strategic planning efforts for the system;
(e) examine workloads and workload standards for all levels within the office of state public defender and include its findings in the biennial report provided for in 47-1-125 ;
(f) establish standards for a statewide contracted services program to be managed by the central services division provided for in 47-1-119 to ensure that contracting for public defender services is done fairly and consistently statewide and within each public defender region;
(g) establish reasonable compensation for attorneys contracted to provide public defender and appellate defender services and for others contracted to provide nonattorney services; and
(h) ensure that there are procedures for conducting assessments of each contract attorney on a biennial basis.
(4) The office of state public defender shall adopt administrative rules pursuant to the Montana Administrative Procedure Act to implement the provisions of this chapter.

Legislative History

En. Sec. 6, Ch. 449, L. 2005; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 24, L. 2011; amd. Sec. 6, Ch. 344, L. 2011; amd. Sec. 22, Ch. 358, L. 2017; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 61, L. 2019; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 207, L. 2023; amd. Sec. 6, Ch. 228, L. 2025.