HCASB448 4274 5816 HOUSE COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS Regular Session ENROLLEDAmendments SENATEproposed BILLby NO.House Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice to Engrossed Senate Bill No.

448 BYby SENATORSenator LUNEAULuneau ANAMENDMENT ACTNO. To amend and reenact R.S.

15:142(F),1 168(E),On andpage 175(B)(1),2, andat the beginning of line 9, change "E." to enact"E.(1)" R.S.AMENDMENT NO.

15:142(G)2 andOn 175(E),page relative2, todelete theline Louisiana20 Publicin Defenderits Act;entirety and insert the following:

to"other providereason forunless legislativethe findings;person makes an application in accordance with R.S.

to provide for the judicial district indigent defender fund;

to provide for proceedings to determine indigency;

and to provide for related matters.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:

Section1.R.S.15:142(F),168(E),and175(B)(1)areherebyamendedandreenacted and R.S.

15:142(G) and 175(E) are herebyenacted to read as follows:

§142.

Legislative findings * * * F.

It is the express intention of the legislature that all funds received throughanystateappropriation,anyjudicialdistrictindigentdefenderfundas provided for in R.S.

15:168, and any funds received from local governments shall not be used for any purposes otherthan to provide for the administration of services and representation of public defender clients.

G.

It is the express intention of the legislature that the office respect local differencesinpracticeandcustomregardingthedeliveryofpublicdefenderservices.

The provisions of this Part are to be construed to preserve the operation of district public defender programs which provide effective assistance of counsel and meet performance standards in whatever form of delivery that local district has adopted, providedthatmethodofdeliveryisconsistentwithstandardsandguidelinesadopted by the office pursuant to rules and as required bystatute.

* * * §168.

Judicial district indigent defender fund * * * E.(1) (1) Notwithstandinganyprovision of law to the contrary, each judicial districtisallowedtoaccumulatefundsforthepurposesofretainingexpertwitnesses.

Page 1 of 3 Coding:

Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;

words in boldface type and underscored are additions.

SB NO.

448 ENROLLED The district public defender, in his discretion, shall determine how payments shall be administered and which experts shall be paid.

(2) Any person who has retained private counsel but is found to be indigent may apply for funds for expert witnesses in the same manner as public defender clients.

Each person shall apply for the funds by making application to the district defender of the district having jurisdiction and shall be subject to the same requirements as indigent clients.

(3) No court shall have jurisdiction to order the payment of any funds administeredbytheofficeordistrict publicdefenderforexpertwitnesses,orforany other reason unless the person makes an application in accordance with R.S.

(b)Privatecounseloftheapplicantdoesnothavefundsthatmaybeused(b) Private counsel of the applicant does not have funds that may be used for expert witnesses.

(e)Thereisareasonableprobabilitythatdenialoftheexpert'sassistance(e) There is a reasonable probability that denial of the expert's assistance would result in a fundamentally unfair trial for the applicant.

(2) The findings and ruling of the court are subject to immediate interlocutory review by the appellate court of competent jurisdiction.jurisdiction." Page 1 of 1 CODING:

*Wordsinstruckthroughtypearedeletionsfromexistinglaw;wordsunderscored *are *additions. §175.

Proceedings to determine indigency Page 2 of 3 Coding:

Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;

words in boldface type and underscored are additions.

SB NO.

448 ENROLLED * * * B.(1) In determining making a preliminary determination as to whether or not a personis indigentand entitled to the appointment of counsel, the court shall consider whether the person is a needy person and the extent of his ability to pay.

The court may consider such factors as income or funds from employment or any other source, including public assistance, to which the accused is entitled, property owned by the accused or in which he has an economic interest, outstanding obligations, the number and ages of dependents, employment and job training history, and level of education.

* * * E.

Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, no clerk of court shall charge or collect any fees, including convenience fees, for the filing ofawritapplication oranappealwhenadeterminationhasbeenmadethatthe applicant or appellant is indigent.