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Committee hears cleanup bill to clarify Office of State Public Defender statutes
Summary
House Bill 102 consolidates and clarifies statutes governing the Office of State Public Defender; the bill makes no substantive changes to obligations or funding and received unanimous support in committee testimony from the agency director.
Representative Jade (sponsor) opened discussion of House Bill 102, a statutory cleanup measure intended to clarify the organizational language of the Office of State Public Defender after a statutory reorganization in 2017. The sponsor said the bill "does nothing to the obligations of the OPD but it does make it more clear."
Brett Shandelson, director of the Office of State Public Defender, testified the measure condenses multiple statutes into a clearer single structure and contains no substantive changes to the agency’s duties or obligations. "There are no substantive changes as the representative said to the duties or obligations of the agency," Shandelson told the committee and asked for a do-pass recommendation.
No opponents or informational witnesses appeared at the hearing, and committee members had few questions. The committee closed the hearing after brief discussion and the bill subsequently moved forward via executive action in committee.
Ending: The committee gave unanimous committee-level support for HB 102 in executive action; the bill was carried forward from committee without substantive changes to OPD responsibilities.
