TITLE 19

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

CHAPTER 60

STATE PUBLIC DEFENDER ACT

19-6009.  Right to counsel of indigent person — Representation at all stages of criminal and commitment proceedings — Payment. (1) An indigent person who is being detained by a law enforcement officer, who is confined or is the subject of hospitalization proceedings pursuant to section 18-212, 66-322, 66-326, 66-329, 66-404 or 66-406, Idaho Code, or who is under formal charge of having committed, or is being detained under a conviction of, a serious crime is entitled:

(a)  To be represented by an attorney to the same extent as a person having his own counsel is so entitled; and

(b)  To be provided with the necessary services and facilities of representation, including investigation and other preparation. The attorney, services and facilities, and the court costs shall be provided at public expense to the extent that the person is, at the time the court determines indigency pursuant to section 19-6011, Idaho Code, unable to provide for their payment.

(2)  An indigent person who is entitled to be represented by an attorney under subsection (1) of this section is entitled:

(a)  To be counseled and defended at all stages of the matter beginning with the earliest time when a person providing his own counsel would be entitled to be represented by an attorney and including revocation of probation;

(b)  To be represented in any appeal;

(c)  To be represented in any other post-conviction or post-commitment proceeding that the attorney or the indigent person considers appropriate, unless the court in which the proceeding is brought determines that it is not a proceeding that a reasonable person with adequate means would be willing to bring at his own expense and is therefore a frivolous proceeding.

(3)  Upon a finding of indigency, representation by an attorney under subsection (1) of this section shall include the following cases, excluding those cases where the state appellate public defender has jurisdiction pursuant to section 19-5905, Idaho Code, and excluding those cases of guardian ad litem representation pursuant to section 16-1614(4), Idaho Code:

(a)  Felony and misdemeanor cases;

(b)  Actions arising under the Idaho juvenile corrections act, chapter 5, title 20, Idaho Code;

(c)  Proceedings under the uniform post-conviction procedure act, chapter 49, title 19, Idaho Code;

(d)  Civil contempt proceedings where incarceration is sought;

(e)  Actions arising under the child protective act, chapter 16, title 16, Idaho Code; and

(f)  Appeals from adjudicatory decrees or orders under section 16-1625, Idaho Code.

(4)  An indigent person’s right to a benefit under subsection (1) or (2) of this section is unaffected by his having provided a similar benefit at his own expense, or by his having waived it, at an earlier stage.

History:

[(19-6009) 19-852, added 1967, ch. 181, sec. 2, p. 599; am. 1969 (2nd E.S.), ch. 10, sec. 2, p. 20; am. 1981, ch. 114, sec. 3, p. 171; am. 1982, ch. 59, sec. 3, p. 92; am. 2013, ch. 220, sec. 2, p. 516; am. and redesig. 2023, ch. 220, sec. 5, p. 670; am. 2024, ch. 270, sec. 4, p. 939.]