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Office of State Public Defender seeks statutory cleanup in committee; directors say no substantive changes
Summary
House Bill 102, an agency bill from the Office of State Public Defender, would update statutory terms and reassign duties to reflect the agency’s current regional and divisional structure; OPD director Brett Shandelson said the bill "does not change substantive duties."
Representative Jade Souktis introduced House Bill 102 as an agency request and deferred to the Office of State Public Defender. Brett Shandelson, OPD director, told the committee the bill comprises cleanup language to align statutes with the post‑2017 agency structure: renaming positions (regional public defenders rather than deputy roles), normalizing duties across client‑facing divisions, shifting specific obligations to the director or central services division, and repealing obsolete sections.
Shandelson emphasized the bill does not alter the statutory duties, rights, or obligations of clients or attorneys; instead, it removes references to specifically named jobs in statute and consolidates responsibilities under current operational titles. He explained the conflict/non‑conflict regional structure adopted after the 2017 reorganization and why the changes promote clarity.
Committee members asked for clarification on conflict vs. non‑conflict regions and how the agency divides work geographically and administratively. Shandelson described three non‑conflict regions and corresponding conflict divisions (1/A, 2/B, 3/C) and noted small exceptions where conflict work must be handled by the conflict division.
The chair closed the hearing after technical questions; the committee later took executive action on several OPD bills during the same meeting.
