(LATE FILED)	Amendment
Bill No. 1935

Amendment No. 653439

CHAMBER ACTION
Senate		House
.
.
.

---

---

1	Representative(s) Kottkamp offered the following:
2
3	Amendment (with title amendment)
4	Remove line(s) 320-484 and insert:
5	(3)  In utilizing a registry:
6	(a)  Each circuit Article V indigent services committee
7	shall compile and maintain a list of attorneys in private
8	practice, by county and by category of cases. From October 1,
9	2005, through September 30, 2007, the list of attorneys compiled
10	by the Eleventh Judicial Circuit shall provide the race, gender,
11	and national origin of assigned attorneys. To be included on a
12	registry, attorneys shall certify that they meet any minimum
13	requirements established in general law for court appointment,
14	are available to represent indigent defendants in cases
15	requiring court appointment of private counsel, and are willing
16	to abide by the terms of the contract for services. To be
17	included on a registry, an attorney also must enter into a
18	contract for services with the Justice Administrative
19	Commission. Failure to comply with the terms of the contract for
20	services may result in termination of the contract and removal
21	from the registry. Each attorney on the registry shall be
22	responsible for notifying the circuit Article V indigent
23	services committee and the Justice Administrative Commission of
24	any change in his or her status. Failure to comply with this
25	requirement shall be cause for termination of the contract for
26	services and removal from the registry until the requirement is
27	fulfilled.
28	(b)  The court shall appoint attorneys in rotating order in
29	the order in which names appear on the applicable registry,
30	unless the court makes a finding of good cause on the record for
31	appointing an attorney out of order. An attorney not appointed
32	in the order in which his or her name appears on the list shall
33	remain next in order.
34	(c)  If it finds the number of attorneys on the registry in
35	a county or circuit for a particular category of cases is
36	inadequate, the circuit Article V indigent services committee
37	shall notify the chief judge of the particular circuit in
38	writing. The chief judge shall submit the names of at least
39	three private attorneys with relevant experience. The clerk of
40	court shall send an application to each of these attorneys to
41	register for appointment.
42	(d)  Quarterly, beginning no later than October 1, 2004,
43	each circuit Article V indigent services committee shall provide
44	a current copy of each registry to the Chief Justice of the
45	Supreme Court, the chief judge, the state attorney and public
46	defender in each judicial circuit, and the clerk of court in
47	each county, the Justice Administrative Commission, and the
48	Indigent Services Advisory Board with a current copy of each
49	registry. From October 1, 2005, through September 30, 2007, the
50	report submitted by the Eleventh Judicial Circuit shall include
51	the race, gender, and national origin of all attorneys listed in
52	and appointed under the registry.
53	(5)  The Justice Administrative Commission shall approve
54	uniform contract forms for use in procuring the services of
55	private court-appointed counsel and uniform procedures and forms
56	for use by a court-appointed attorney in support of billing for
57	attorney's fees, costs, and related expenses to demonstrate the
58	attorney's completion of specified duties.
59	(7)(a)  An attorney appointed to represent a defendant or
60	other client is entitled to payment pursuant to s. 27.5304, only
61	upon full performance by the attorney of specified duties,
62	approval of payment by the court, except for payment based on a
63	flat fee per case as provided in s. 27.5304; and attorney
64	submission of a payment request to the Justice Administrative
65	Commission. Upon being permitted to withdraw from a case, a
66	court-appointed attorney shall submit a copy of the order to the
67	Justice Administrative Commission at the time it is issued by
68	the court. If an attorney is permitted to withdraw or is
69	otherwise removed from representation prior to full performance
70	of the duties specified in this section for reasons other than
71	breach of duty, the trial court shall approve payment of
72	attorney's fees and costs for work performed in an amount not to
73	exceed the amounts specified in s. 27.5304. Withdrawal from a
74	case prior to full performance of the duties specified shall
75	create a rebuttable presumption that the attorney is not
76	entitled to the entire flat fee for those cases paid on a flat-
77	fee-per-case basis.
78	(b)  The attorney shall maintain appropriate documentation,
79	including a current and detailed hourly accounting of time spent
80	representing the defendant or other client. These records and
81	documents are subject to review by the Justice Administrative
82	Commission, subject to the attorney-client privilege and work
83	product privilege.
84	Section 2.  Section 27.42, Florida Statutes, is amended to
85	read:
86	27.42  Circuit Article V indigent services committees;
87	composition; staff; responsibilities; funding.--
88	(1)  In each judicial circuit a circuit Article V indigent
89	services committee shall be established. The committee shall
90	consist of the following:
91	(a)  The chief judge of the judicial circuit or the chief
92	judge's designee, who shall serve as the chair.
93	(b)  The public defender of the judicial circuit, or
94	designee from within the office of the public defender.
95	(c)  One experienced private criminal defense attorney
96	appointed by the chief judge to serve a 2-year term. During the
97	2-year term, the attorney is prohibited from serving as court-
98	appointed counsel.
99	(d)  One experienced civil trial attorney appointed by the
100	chief judge, to serve a 2-year term. During the 2-year term, the
101	attorney is prohibited from serving as court-appointed counsel.
102	(2)(a)  The responsibility of the circuit Article V
103	indigent services committee is to manage the appointment and
104	compensation of court-appointed counsel within a circuit
105	pursuant to ss. 27.40 and 27.5303. The committee shall also set
106	the compensation rates of due-process service providers in cases
107	where the court has appointed counsel or declared a person
108	indigent for costs, not to exceed any rates specified in the
109	General Appropriations Act such that the total amount expended
110	does not exceed the amount budgeted in the General
111	Appropriations Act for the particular due-process service. The
112	circuit Article V indigent services committee shall meet at
113	least quarterly.
114	(b)  No later than October 1, 2004, Each circuit Article V
115	indigent services committee shall maintain a registry pursuant
116	to s. 27.40, even when procuring counsel through a competitive
117	bidding process. However, if counsel is procured through a
118	competitive bidding process, the registry shall be used only
119	when counsel obtained through that process is unable to provide
120	representation due to a conflict of interest or reasons beyond
121	their control. The committee shall apply any eligibility and
122	performance standards set by the Legislature.
123	(c)  Each circuit Article V indigent services committee
124	shall develop a schedule of standard fees and expense allowances
125	for the categories of cases specified in s. 27.5304 27.5303,
126	consistent with the overall compensation rates in that section
127	and within the amount of appropriated funds allocated by the
128	Justice Administrative Commission to the circuit for this
129	purpose.
130	(d)  Each circuit Article V indigent services committee
131	shall establish a schedule of standard allowances for due-
132	process expenses for cases in which the court has declared a
133	person indigent for costs, within the amount of appropriated
134	funds allocated by the Justice Administrative Commission to the
135	circuit for this purpose.
136	(3)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a
137	circuit Article V indigent services committee may approve, and
138	the Justice Administrative Commission shall investigate and
139	evaluate the use of funds for, alternate models for the
140	provision of criminal and civil due-process services and
141	representation other than a model based on a per-case fee if a
142	more cost-effective and efficient system can be provided. An
143	alternate model may include court-reporting services and the
144	provision of court-appointed counsel.
145	(4)(3)  The Justice Administrative Commission shall prepare
146	and issue on a quarterly basis a statewide report comparing
147	actual year-to-date expenditures to budgeted amounts for the
148	circuit Article V indigent services committees in each of the
149	judicial circuits. Copies of these quarterly reports shall be
150	distributed to each circuit Article V indigent services
151	committee and to the Governor, the Chief Justice of the Supreme
152	Court, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House
153	of Representatives.
154	(5)(4)(a)  The funding and positions for the processing of
155	committees' fees and expenses shall be as appropriated to the
156	Justice Administrative Commission in the General Appropriations
157	Act.
158	(b)  Funds for criminal conflict attorney's fees and
159	expenses shall be appropriated by the Legislature in a separate
160	appropriations category within the Justice Administrative
161	Commission. These funds shall be allocated to each circuit as
162	prescribed in the General Appropriations Act.
163	(c)  Funds for attorney's fees and expenses for child
164	dependency and civil conflict cases shall be appropriated by the
165	Legislature in a separate appropriations category within the
166	Justice Administrative Commission.
167	(d)  Any funds the Legislature appropriates for other
168	court-appointed counsel cases shall be as appropriated within
169	the Justice Administrative Commission.
170
171	The Justice Administrative Commission shall separately track
172	expenditures on private court-appointed counsel for the
173	following categories of cases: criminal conflict, civil
174	conflict, dependency and termination of parental rights, and
175	guardianship. From October 1, 2005, through September 30, 2007,
176	the Justice Administrative Commission shall also track and issue
177	a report on the race, gender, and the national origin of private
178	court-appointed counsel for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit.
179	Section 3.  Pilot projects; conflict attorneys.--Pursuant
180	to s. 14, Art. V, and s. 25, Art. XII of the State Constitution,
181	and s. 27.52, Florida Statutes, and notwithstanding s. 925.037,
182	Florida Statutes, pilot projects are created to reimburse three
183	counties for reasonable and necessary conflict counsel fees,
184	expenses, and costs. The counties designated for the pilot
185	projects must institute cost containment and accountability
186	processes and provide a detailed quarterly report to the
187	Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House
188	of Representatives, and the Joint Legislative Committee on
189	Article V. The report shall include, but is not limited to:
190	(1)  The total number of conflict cases;
191	(2)  The steps that were taken to avoid the conflict, if
192	any;
193	(3)  The number of each type of case identified with
194	specificity;
195	(4)  The length of each case;
196	(5)  The total amount paid to each attorney;
197	(6)  The total year-to-date payments to conflict attorneys;
198	and
199	(7)  The method of payment, for example, hourly rate, flat
200	fee, contract, or other method of payment,
201
202	and in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, for a 2-year period, the
203	report shall also include race, gender, and national origin
204	classification of all private conflict attorneys. All
205	information must be broken down based on whether the case was
206	given to outside counsel due to an ethical conflict or due to an
207	overextended caseload.
208
209	================ T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T =============
210	Remove line(s) 7-23 and insert:
211	27.40, F.S., relating to circuit registries for court-appointed
212	counsel; requiring that a list of attorneys compiled by the
213	Eleventh Judicial Circuit provide certain information on
214	assigned attorneys; requiring that an attorney enter into a
215	contract to be included on the registry; revising requirements
216	for private court-appointed counsel; specifying certain
217	information relating to attorneys listed in a registry to be
218	contained in a report by the Eleventh Judicial Circuit;
219	requiring the Justice Administrative Commission to approve
220	uniform procedures and forms for use in billing for attorney's
221	fees, costs, and related expenses; requiring that a withdrawal
222	order be filed with the commission; revising fee payment
223	provisions; providing that withdrawal from a case creates a
224	rebuttable presumption of nonentitlement to the entire flat fee;
225	amending s. 27.42, F.S.; requiring the circuit Article V
226	indigent services committee to establish the compensation rates
227	for court-appointed counsel or in cases of indigency; requiring
228	each committee to establish a schedule of allowances for due-
229	process expenses; authorizing alternate models for providing
230	criminal and civil due-process representation; requiring the
231	Justice Administrative Commission to track and issue a report
232	containing certain information on court-appointed counsel for
233	the Eleventh Judicial Circuit; creating pilot projects to
234	reimburse certain counties for certain counsel fees, expenses,
235	and costs; requiring the counties to institute const containment
236	and accountability processes and report to the Governor and
237	Legislature; providing report requirements;

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.