S-4185

AN ACT Relating to funds appropriated for representation of indigent parents and children; amending RCW 2.70.020; and adding new sections to chapter 2.70 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. RCW 2.70.020 and 1996 c 221 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:

The director, under the supervision and direction of the advisory committee, shall:

(1) Administer all criminal appellate indigent defense services;

(2) Submit a biennial budget for all costs related to state appellate indigent defense;

(3) Establish administrative procedures, standards, and guidelines for the program including a cost-efficient system that provides for recovery of costs;

(4) Recommend criteria and standards for determining and verifying indigency. In recommending criteria for determining indigency, the director shall compile and review the indigency standards used by other state agencies and shall periodically submit the compilation and report to the legislature on the appropriateness and consistency of such standards;

(5) Collect information regarding indigency cases funded by the state and report annually to the legislature and the supreme court;

(6) Coordinate with the supreme court and the judges of each division of the court of appeals to determine how attorney services should be provided;

(7) Administer and distribute funds appropriated for representation of indigent parents and children. Spending priorities shall include:

(a) Development of uniform tracking of indigent parent and children cases and funding amounts state-wide;

(b) Efforts to reduce delays and continuances in dependency and termination cases;

(d) Methods for establishing paternity among possible fathers at the earliest possible date when paternity is an issue;

(e) Setting salary levels for dependency and termination defense counsel that attracts competent, skilled counsel;

(f) Retention of sufficient counsel to maintain reasonable caseloads;

(g) Making funds available for necessary support staff, defense experts, dependency and termination defense counsel, and investigators;

(h) Development and enforcement of standards of practice for defense counsel; and

(i) Training for dependency and termination defense counsel.

The office of public defense shall not provide direct representation of clients.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 2.70 RCW to read as follows:

The director shall convene a task force to assist in the development of the plan to administer and distribute funds appropriated for the representation of indigent parents and children. The plan shall be constructed with emphasis on the spending priorities listed in RCW 2.70.020(7). The members of the task force shall include but not be limited to the following: A representative of the attorney general's office whose primary responsibility is representation of the department of social and health services in dependency matters; an attorney in private practice who represents parents in dependency matters; an attorney representing a public defender office that provides representation to parents in dependency matters; two superior court judges or court commissioners whose major responsibilities entail presiding over dependency cases, one from eastern Washington and one from western Washington; a guardian ad litem; a representative of a court-appointed special advocate program; and two consumers, one from eastern Washington and one from western Washington.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 2.70 RCW to read as follows:

The plan to administer and distribute funds appropriated for the representation of indigent parents and children shall be delivered to the legislature by January 1, 2001.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 2.70 RCW to read as follows:

The funds appropriated for the purposes of section 1 of this act shall not be available to the office of public defense until July 1, 2001.