Illinois § 30

§ 30.

Powers and duties of the State Public Defender. (a) The State Public Defender or the State Public Defender's designee shall act as attorney when appointed by a court, without fee, for all otherwise unrepresented persons in any matter in which a county public defender or other attorney may be appointed, and who the court finds are unable to afford counsel. The Office of the State Public Defender shall be the attorney, without fee, when so appointed by the court under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. (b) The initial State Public Defender shall be appointed for a 2-year term by a majority vote of the Illinois Supreme Court. Each subsequent State Public Defender shall be appointed for a 6-year term under Section 45. The State Public Defender shall adopt rules, instructions, and orders consistent with this Act, further defining the organization of the Office of the State Public Defender and the duties of the Office's employees. (c) Before submitting a budget request to the General Assembly, the State Public Defender shall submit the budget request to the State Public Defender Commission for approval. (d) The State Public Defender may: (1) provide representation in counties located within its regional offices in addition to appointed counsel and county public defenders; (2) provide county public defenders with the assistance of attorneys, expert witnesses, investigators, administrative staff, and social service staff; (3) provide training and other resources to county public defenders; (4) maintain a panel of private attorneys available to serve as counsel on a case-by-case basis; (5) provide funding and such other support designed to improve, increase access to, and advance the cause of indigent defense, including aiding county public defenders in providing effective assistance of counsel to their clients. Such funding and support shall supplement, not supplant, existing county public defender budgets and services. Before receiving any funds provided under this Section, a county must certify in writing to the State that it will not reduce county funds provided for public defense; (6) establish programs, alone or in conjunction with law schools, for the purpose of using law students as legal assistants; (7) ensure access to a digital discovery storage management system, case management software, and legal research subscriptions for county public defenders, taking into consideration compatibility with existing county and State-based systems; and (8) cooperate and consult with State and county agencies, professional associations, and other groups concerning the causes of criminal conduct, the rehabilitation and support of persons charged with and convicted of crime, the administration of criminal justice, and the administration of juvenile delinquency and dependency matters, including collaboration with other court stakeholders to advocate for adequate funding of court systems. (e) The State Public Defender shall establish a recruitment and retention plan to ensure a skilled and diverse workforce is available to serve clients in every part of the State, including establishing competitive salary scales. (f) The State Public Defender shall establish and supervise training programs for the State Public Defender's employees. (g) The State Public Defender shall maintain a website to provide the public with information about the Office of State Public Defender and its organization, information on how to join the Client Community Advisory Board, information for people seeking employment in public defense, supplementary statistics and reports of public interest, reports to the Commission and State agencies, and agendas, minutes, and documents for Commission meetings. (h) The requirement for reporting to the General Assembly shall be satisfied by filing copies of the report as required by Section 3.1 of the General Assembly Organization Act and filing such additional copies with the State Government Report Distribution Center for the General Assembly as is required under paragraph (t) of Section 7 of the State Library Act. (i) All required reports shall be simultaneously transmitted to the Supreme Court and to the Governor. (Source: P.A. 104-300, eff. 1-1-27.)