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Senate amends bill to allow counties in-house indigent-defense offices and inter-county contracting
Summary
Senate adopted an amendment to SB149 clarifying that counties may create in-house indigent-defense departments, define "legal defense" to include resources beyond hired counsel, and contract with other counties to provide services; the amendment was moved and accepted before the bill was read for third time.
Senate Bill 149, which addresses indigent defense, was amended on the floor to clarify the meaning of providing legal defense and to permit counties to form in-house indigent-defense departments rather than relying on outside contracts. Sponsor Senator Bell said counties requested the bill and supported the change.
"The amendment simply clarifies what providing legal defense is — that it includes resources, not just hiring counsel," Senator Bell said, explaining the amendment and noting that a county department could, by interlocal agreement, contract with other counties to provide services.
He added the bill does not mandate counties to create such departments but provides the option for counties that wish to do so. The Senate adopted Amendment #1 under Senator Bell's name and proceeded to read the bill for a third time as recorded on the floor.
The floor action amended the bill and moved it forward in the process; a roll-call sequence followed the amendment and subsequent third-reading motion as documented in the transcript.
