IC 33-40-7-3.5 Creation of Multicounty Public Defender's Office; Joint Board

• Library: Indiana Statutes
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current through P.L. 255-2023
• Year: 2023
• Citation: IC 33-40-7-3.5

(a) A county executive may adopt an ordinance allowing the county to enter into an interlocal agreement (as described in IC 36-1-7-3) with one (1) or more counties for the purpose of:

(1) creating a multicounty public defender's office; and

(2) providing legal defense services to indigent persons located in the counties served by the multicounty public defender's office.

(b) An agreement described in subsection (a) shall:

(1) require any created multicounty public defender's office to be administered by a joint board (as described in IC 36-1-7-3(a)(5)(B)) ; and

(2) delegate, to an auditor of one (1) of the constituent counties comprising the multicounty public defender's office, the duty to receive, disburse, and account for all monies distributed to the multicounty public defender's office.

(c) Notwithstanding any guidelines and standards adopted by the Indiana public defender commission under IC 33-40-5-4, the members of a joint board shall be persons who have demonstrated an interest in high quality legal representation for indigent persons.

(d) Notwithstanding any other law or provision, a member of the joint board may not be:

(1) a city, town, or county attorney;

(2) a law enforcement officer;

(3) a judge;

(4) a court employee;