Montana Office of the Public Defender aims to streamline representation for indigent clients

The Office of the Public Defender will better serve citizens in times of crisis with House Bill 111, Rep. Jodee Etchart, R-Billings, said Monday.

In a short hearing with no opponents, sponsor Etchart said the bill would eliminate unnecessary financial qualification procedures in a couple of cases where they aren’t necessary.

Brian Smith with the Office of the Public Defender elaborated and estimated the changes would save roughly $20,000. In cases of dependency and neglect, he said sometimes parents aren’t available to fill out eligibility forms.

So judges might have parents without representation in court.

“Judges don’t like to have unrepresented parties in these proceedings,” Smith said.

When a case reaches a stage at which point parental rights could be terminated, Smith said judges want to appoint counsel, but if the Office of the Public Defender hasn’t qualified the person, a conflict is created, Smith said. So he said OPD has to ask the judge to rescind the appointment.

But he said there’s no question those defendants need help.

“These individuals qualify for our services,” Smith said. “We’re not representing people who do not qualify in dependency and neglect cases.”

The bill would affect involuntary commitment cases as well.

Smith said those cases move too quickly for the Office of the Public Defender to qualify a respondent, and it’s unreasonable to ask many of them to manage the documents.

“We’re also asking people who are very mentally ill to fill out paperwork,” Smith said.

ACLU of Montana’s Maggie Bornstein testified in support of the changes. She said the bill would alleviate red tape for people who need representation.

“We believe that quick access to qualified counsel is vital for indigent defendants in our criminal legal system,” Bornstein said.

The committee will take action in a future meeting.

Keila Szpaller is deputy editor of the Daily Montanan, a nonprofit newsroom. To read the article as originally published, click here.