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Appropriations committee funds Office of Alternate Defense Counsel after brief question
Summary
The Appropriations Committee approved Senate Bill 96, which includes an increase to fund the Office of Alternate Defense Counsel (OADC). Committee members asked for clarification about the size and statewide scope of the OADC before the bill passed unanimously.
Senator Bridges moved Senate Bill 96, a judicial supplemental that the committee approved after brief questions about funding for the Office of Alternate Defense Counsel.
Committee members pressed for clarity on the OADC funding and its statewide role before the vote. Senator Pelton asked for "a little bit more explanation on the judicial, on this part of it from Senator Bridges," and Bridges said the largest piece in the supplemental package "is about funding the OADC." Senator Liston asked for the dollar increase and confirmed the amount: "So the increase for the OADC is 2.7 almost 2,800,000.0? Is that do I read that right?" Bridges replied, "Yes. It's correct." Bridges also explained that the OADC serves the entire state though caseloads are concentrated on the front range.
Bridges told the committee that the OADC had warned it would need to close without the requested funds and framed the funding as necessary to meet what he described as the "constitutional requirement that we provide counsel for folks." After questions and no amendments, Clerk Burmeister called the roll and the committee approved Senate Bill 96 unanimously.
The committee moved the bill onto the consent calendar later in the meeting.
