Document Actions
Standard Seven: Support Staff
- American Bar Association, Standards for Criminal Justice, Standard 4-8.1:
- The lawyer for the accused should be familiar with the sentencing alternatives available to the court and should endeavor to learn its practices in exercising sentencing discretion. The consequences of the various dispositions available should be explained fully by the lawyer to the accused.
- Defense counsel should present to the court any ground which will assist in reaching a proper disposition favorable to the accused. If a presentence report or summary is made available to the defense lawyer, he or she should seek to verify the information contained in it and should be prepared to supplement or challenge it if necessary. If there is no presentence report or if it is not disclosed, the lawyer should submit to the court and the prosecutor all favorable information relevant to sentencing and in an appropriate case be prepared to suggest a program of rehabilitation based on the lawyer's exploration of employment, educational, and other opportunities made available by community services.
- Sufficient funds to provide quarters, facilities, copying equipment, and communications comparable to those available to private counsel handling a comparable law practice.
- Funds to provide tape recording, photographic and other investigative equipment of a sufficient quantity, quality, and versatility to permit preservation of evidence under all circumstances.
- Funds for the employment of experts and specialists, such as psychiatrists, forensic pathologists, and other scientific experts in all cases in which they may be of assistance to the defense.
- Sufficient funds or means of transportation to permit the office personnel to fulfill their travel needs in preparing cases for trial and in attending court or professional meetings.
- Secretaries. The contract should provide an adequate number of secretaries to ensure competent representation to clients and adequate assistance to attorneys.
- Social Service Personnel. The contract should provide an adequate number of Social Service Personnel to assist attorneys and their clients.
- Mental health Professionals. The contract should specifically include funds for mental health professionals unless mental health professionals are provided to the Contractor to perform mental evaluations by court order or otherwise upon request.
- Secretaries. At least one secretary should be employed for every four staff attorneys. Fewer secretaries may be necessary, however, if the agency has access to word processors, overload secretaries, or other additional staff performing clerical work.
- Social work staff. Social work staff should be employed at a ratio of one for every three lawyers defending felony cases; and one for every four lawyers defending juvenile cases; and one for every five lawyers defending misdemeanors.
- Mental health professionals. Each agency should have access to a mental health professional to perform mental evaluations.
American Bar Association, Standards for Criminal Justice, Standard 5-1.4, supra, p. 47.
National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals, Task Force on Courts, Standard 13.14:
- Public defender offices should have adequate supportive services, including secretarial, investigation, and social work assistance.
In rural areas (and other areas where necessary), units of local government should combine to establish regional defenders' offices that will serve a sufficient population and caseload to justify a supporting organization that meets the requirements of this standard.
The budget of a public defender for operational expenses other than the costs of personnel should be substantially equivalent to, and certainly not less than, that provided for other components of the justice system with whom the public defender must interact, such as the courts, prosecution, the private bar, and the police. The budget should include:
The defender office should have immediate access to a library containing the following basic materials: the annotated laws of the State, the State code of criminal procedure, the municipal code, the United States Code Annotated, the State appellate reports, the U.S. Supreme Court reports, Federal courts of appeal and district court reports, citators governing all reports and statutes in the library, digests for State and Federal cases, a legal reference work digesting State law, a form book of approved jury charges, legal treatises on evidence and criminal law, criminal law and U.S. Supreme Court case reporters published weekly, loose leaf services related to criminal law, and, if available, an index to the State appellate brief bank. In smaller offices, a secretary who has substantial experience with legal work should be assigned as librarian, under the direction of one of the senior lawyers. In large offices, a staff attorney should be responsible for the library.
National Legal Aid and Defender Association, Standards for Defender Services, Standard IV-3:
- Essential to the provision of effective representation is the adequacy of supportive services for the defender. Supportive services should include, but are not limited to, secretarial, investigative and other necessary personnel, and sufficient funds should be provided to retain various experts for investigation, consultation, and/or attendance in court.
National Legal Aid and Defender Association, Guidelines for Negotiating and Awarding Indigent Legal Defense Contracts, 1983 Draft, Standard III-7, Support Staff:
- The contract should provide for employment of secretaries, social work staff, mental health professionals, and other support staff to perform tasks not requiring legal credentials or experience and tasks for which supporting staff possess special skills. Such skills are particularly important in ensuring effective performance of defense counsel at the sentencing stage and in the preparation of dispositional plans.
Seattle-King County Bar Association Indigent Defense Services Task Force, Guidelines for Accreditation of Defender Agencies, 1982, Guideline Number 7.
- Secretaries, social work staff, mental health professionals, and other support staff should be employed to perform tasks not requiring legal credentials or experience and for tasks where supporting staff possess special skills.
Disciplinary Counsel - WSBA
