The Commission's recent article regarding Indiana's significant lawyer shortage has gathered the attention of several media outlets.

WRTV reporter Kara Kenney recently produced an in-depth 4-part series on the issue that featured leaders of Indiana's criminal justice community.

The stories covered the impact on prosecution, defense, and rural communities. Several pieces of reporting from other media outlets have also been produced. Those articles are on the Commission's website and may be viewed by clicking HERE.

The Indiana Supreme Court has also recently proposed an amendment to Admission and Discipline Rule 13 to provide Indiana with a detailed waiver provision that sets out a path for otherwise qualified law school graduates to sit for the Indiana bar exam. Click HERE to read more about the proposal. 

Commission staff will continue to work on this issue. Questions may be directed to Derrick Mason or Andrew Cullen. 

At the December meeting, the Commission endorsed legislation to create a pilot program to reimburse local public defense systems for misdemeanor expenses from existing appropriations.

This program will require statutory authority. Although the 2024 session of the General Assembly is not a budget-writing session, Commission staff will seek to advance legislation to permit this limited pilot program from existing appropriations to the Public Defense Fund. The intention would be to utilize funding only at a level that would NOT jeopardize full reimbursement to local PD systems currently complying with standards.

Many of these details will be focused on during the legislative session, which is scheduled to begin in early January and end by mid-March. 

The proposed legislation will also change the name of the Commission to "The Indiana Commission on Court Appointed Attorneys." This name change is intended to clarify the Commission's role while distinguishing it from the other two state public defense agencies - the State Public Defender and the Public Defender Council.

Questions may be directed to Andrew Cullen. 

In an effort to be transparent about attorneys practicing in multiple counties, the Commission has created a portal that will assist both individual attorneys and local public defense offices in tracking compliance with Commission Standards.

As a reminder, attorneys who accept cases in multiple counties are still required to follow caseload standards in order to be eligible for reimbursement. A caseload of under 1.09 FTE is considered in “substantial compliance.” However, it is important to make note of which attorneys may be close to their maximum allowable caseload.

Please bookmark the link below. Each quarter, the spreadsheet will be updated with a new tab after we've finalize the reimbursement requests.

Questions may be directed to Jennifer Pinkston. 

Please note the below message from the State Board of Accounts (SBOA) regarding a new county funding option for criminal justice expenses. The italicized language below was sent by the SBOA to key officials. 

"... we have received various inquiries over the last few weeks regarding the appropriate uses of the newly authorized judicial LIT in Ind. Code § 6-3.6-6-2.9.  In order to effectively communicate the SBOA's official position, the State Examiner has authorized this communication.

Ind. Code § 6-3.6-6-2.9 (a) authorizes the county to use the Judicial LIT funds for “county staff expenses of the state judicial system in the county.” We believe the language of this statute is very broad and should be read as such. Although not conclusive, we believe the Lake County Board of Commissioners v. State (181 NE 3d 960) is informative on whether certain local departments should be considered part of the “state judicial system in the county” as contemplated by the statute.

Therefore, per the State Examiner, the State Board of Accounts will consider the following expenses appropriate when evaluating compliance with Ind. Code § 6-3.6-6-2.9:

• County Staff Expenses relating to the following areas:
• Judicial Court(s)
• Prosecutor’s Offices
• Public Defender Offices
• Probation Department
• Community Corrections

At a minimum, we believe reading the statute in conjunction with previous Supreme Court precedent, indicates the above areas could be considered part of the “state judicial system.” And therefore, would have been considered when the Legislature enacted this statute.

However, it should be noted this statute is not without limitations. Specifically, referring to “county staff expenses.” We read this to mean expenses generally covered by the county during the employment of the aforementioned individuals.

Should the legislature amend the language to be more restrictive or inclusive, we reserve the right to evaluate the statutory language at that time."

In an effort to assist Commission-compliant local public defense systems with recruiting, the Commission is expanding our job posting service.

When an open position is submitted, it will now be posted on the following websites:

• Commission's website
• American Bar Association
• Law School Job Boards: IU McKinney, IU Mauer, Notre Dame, Cooley (Michigan), University of Louisville Brandeis, University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign)

As a reminder, to post an open position, simply email a PDF document that includes all necessary information to information@pdcom.in.gov. If you have any comments about this service, please contact Linda Hunter or Andrew Cullen. 

Effective January 1, 2024, the Commission has approved changes to the guidelines that accompany Standard G (Compensation) and to Standard J (Caseloads). Click here for more information.

The Commission thanks all public defenders, public defender boards, judges, and Indiana citizens who submitted public comment.

Questions may be directed to Derrick Mason, Jennifer Pinkston, or Torrin Liddell.

The Commission has released its annual report for the 2022-2023 fiscal year.

Among many other things, it includes information about Indiana's lawyer shortage, results from the Youth and Families Pilot Programs, and the latest statistics about reimbursements.

Each state agency is required by statute to provide an annual report to the Legislative Council following each fiscal year.