Bill Summary for Bill Number Office of the State Public Defender Briefing

Date: 02/03/2006

Final
Office of the State Public Defender Briefing

COMMITTEE ON JOINT JUDICIARY

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08:03 AM

David Kaplan, Colorado State Public Defender, provided some background and the mission of the Office of the State Public Defender. Staff counsel is appointed to handle criminal matters for defendants who cannot afford an attorney. Mr. Kaplan discussed some of the efficiencies his office has put into place, include a statewide research intranet and a web-based statistics system.

08:08 AM

Mr. Kaplan stated that there is a crisis in terms of caseload. He discussed some statistics regarding rising numbers of cases and standards for manageable caseloads (Attachment B). He also talked about claims of ineffective assistance of counsel against attorneys in his office. Mr. Kaplan discussed the fact that the large caseload contributes to a very high (17%) attrition rate in his office.

08:26 AM

Mr. Kaplan responded to questions from the committee regarding the resources of the office and the use of those resources.