(a) A risk assessment of each county shall be conducted
by the policy monitoring team each fiscal year as the primary means
of determining which counties will be selected for on-site policy
monitoring. On-site monitoring visits to counties shall then be apportioned
by administrative judicial region, county size, risk assessment scores,
past visits, and other documented factors. The risk assessment shall
use a variety of factors related to the provision of indigent defense
services, including but not limited to the following:
(1) Investigation and expert witness expenses;
(2) Reimbursements for attorney fees;
(3) Per capita indigent defense expenses;
(4) Felony, misdemeanor, and juvenile attorney appointment
rates;
(5) County population;
(6) Complaints about a county received by the Commission;
(7) Receipt of a TIDC improvement grant;
(8) Requests for counsel during magistrate warnings
under Article 15.17, Code of Criminal Procedure; and
(9) Appellate cases.
(b) Counties may receive monitoring visits as a result
of factors outside of the risk assessment, including findings from
a previous visit, a complaint, media reports, or a request from an
elected state or local official. If Commission staff make a drop-in
visit, fiscal monitoring review, or grant program review and determine
that violations of the Fair Defense Act or Commission rules may be
present in a county, the monitor may conduct a monitoring visit of
the county's procedures.
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