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ENGROSSED SENATE
BILL NO. 899 By: Weaver and Boren of the
Senate
and
Worthen of the House
An Act relating to the Indigent Defense Act; amending
22 O.S. 2021, Sections 1355. 7, 1355.13, and 1358,
which relate to appointment of private attorneys,
death penalty cases, and reassignment of cases;
authorizing reassignment of certain cases for
conflict of interest; expanding authorization for
payment at certain rate for certain cases; i ncreasing
limit on compensation for certain attorne ys in
capital cases; authorizing reassignment of cases for
certain purposes; and providing an effective date .
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF O KLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 22 O.S. 2021, Section 1355.7, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 1355.7. A. If the Executive Director determines that a
conflict of interest exists at the trial level between a defendant
client of the Oklahoma Indigent Defense Syst em and an attorney
employed or contracted by the System, or that efficient management
of System resources justify re assignment, the case may be reassi gned
by the Executive Director to another attorney employed by the
System, or to a private attorney with w hom the System has a contract
for indigent defense or who is included on a list of attorneys as
provided in subsection C B of this section.
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B. If the Executive Director determines that a conflict of
interest exists at the trial level between a defendant a nd an
attorney who represents ind igents either pursuant to a contract with
the System or as assigned by the System, the case may be reassigned
by the Executive Director to an attor ney employed by the System,
another attorney who represents indigents pursua nt to a contract
with the System, or another private attorney who has agreed to
accept such assignments pursuant to subsection C of this section.
C. Assignment of a case by the System to a private attorney in
all counties of this state served by the Syste m shall be from a list
of attorneys willing to accept such assignments and who meet the
qualifications established by the System for such the assignments.
D. C. Payment to such private attorneys shall be made by the
System and shall be at rates approved b y the System, subject to the
statutory limits established in Sections 1355.8 and 1355.13 of this
title for cases at the trial level .
SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 22 O.S. 2021, Section 1355.13, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 1355.13. A. In every case in which t he defendant is
subject to the death penalty and an attorney or attorneys other than
an attorney or attorneys employed by the Indigent Defense Syste m are
assigned to the case by the System to provide representation, an
attorney or attorneys must submit a claim or claims in accordance
with the provisions of the Indigent Defense Act in such detail as
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required by the System. Except as provided in subsecti on B of this
section, total compensation for non -System attorneys who ser ve as
lead counsel in capital cas es shall not exceed Twenty Thousand
Dollars ($20,000.00) per case. Total compensati on for a non-System
attorney who is co-counsel with a System or no n-System attorney in a
capital case shall not exceed Five Thousand Dollar s ($5,000.00)
Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ( $25,000.00) per case.
B. The maximum statutory fee establ ished in this section may be
exceeded only upon a determination made by the Execu tive Director
and approved by the Board that the case is an exc eptional one which
requires an extraordinary amou nt of time to litigate , and that the
request for extraordinary attorney fees is reas onable.
SECTION 3. AMENDATORY 22 O .S. 2021, Section 1358, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 1358. If the Executive Director determines that a
conflict exists afte r evaluating a case assigned pursuant to Section
1356 of this title or that the efficient management of System
resources justify reassignment, the Executive Director shall
reassign the case in the same manner as is provided for conflicts
case reassignments at the trial level in Section 1355.7 of this
title, unless the case is from a county subject to the provisions of
Section 138.1a of Title 19 of the Oklahoma Statutes and the indigent
defendant was not represented at trial by the coun ty indigent
defender. If the Executive Director determines a conflict exists in
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a case from a county subject to the provisions of Section 138.1 a of
Title 19 of the Oklahoma Statutes and the indigent defendant was not
represented at trial by the county ind igent defender, the county
indigent defender shall be appointed to represent the indigent
defendant. The appointment of the county indigent def ender shall be
made by the district court at the time the appeal is initiated o r by
the Court of Criminal Appeal s after the appeal is initiated. If the
district court, at the time the appeal is initiated, or the Court of
Criminal Appeals, after the appeal has been initiated, determines
that the county indigent defender also has a co nflict of interest in
the case, the district court, initially or on remand from the Court
of Criminal Appeals, shall appoint counsel in the same manner as is
provided for conflicts at the trial level in Section 138.7 of Title
19 of the Oklahoma Statutes, b y reassigning the case to another
county indigent defender, an attorney who represents indigents
pursuant to contract, or a private attorney has agreed to accept
such appointments.
SECTION 4. This act shall become effective November 1, 2023.
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Passed the Senate the 7th day of March, 2023.
Presiding Officer of the Senate
Passed the House of Representatives the ____ day of __________,
2023.
Presiding Officer of the House
of Representatives