Senate committee advances bill letting regional counsel handle conflict cases, sponsor says it will save money
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Summary
The Florida Senate Judiciary Committee adopted a strike-all amendment to SB 762 and reported the bill favorably (8-1). Sponsor Sen. Martin said the change would allow regional counsel to accept referred conflict cases to reduce Justice Administrative Commission costs; regional counsel testified it could produce substantial savings.
The Florida Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday advanced SB 762, a measure that would allow regional public defender offices to accept referrals of conflict cases from other jurisdictions, after adopting a strike-all amendment that removed a one-year sunset and a Justice Administrative Commission reporting requirement.
Sen. Martin, the bill sponsor, said the amendment (barcode 250350) was technical and streamlined the measure. "This amendment is technical in nature," he said, adding the change deletes the one-year sunset and the JAC forwarding requirement.
The bill’s supporters say regional counsel offices already operate across multiple circuits and can provide trained, cost-efficient representation in death-penalty and other conflict cases. Itany Moten, who identified herself as regional counsel for the 2nd Region, told the committee regional offices have in-house training and staff and said using that capacity would reduce costs. "Death penalty are the most expensive category of cases, and this is where we can save the most money," Moten said, adding that Justice Administrative Commission created a funding category so the change would be "a zero ask" in dollars. Moten also estimated substantial savings over 10 years (transcript: "$150,000,000 in savings, over 10 years").
Committee members asked about how compensation would be handled and whether out-of-area counsel would have sufficient local contacts and access to investigators. Sen. Berman asked whether a referred regional counsel could decline a case and how attorneys would be compensated; Sen. Martin replied participation is optional and said compensation details were not specified in the bill.
After brief questions and a voice vote adopting the amendment, the committee called the roll on the committee substitute for SB 762; the measure was reported favorably by roll call, 8 yeas and 1 nay.
The bill now moves to the next step in the Senate process with the committee recommendation recorded.