Proposed Standards Published for Comment
From Judge James H. Fisher
Chairperson
The Michigan Indigent Defense Commission (MIDC) is proud to announce the release of our first set of proposed minimum standards for the local delivery of indigent criminal defense services. These standards involve education and training, the initial client interview, experts and investigators, and counsel at first appearance in front of a judge.
We selected these initial standards because they are either required by the statute or supported by United States Supreme Court precedent. MCL 780.989(1). We also wanted to start with a set of standards that would be amenable to the creation of lasting and measurable improvements in the criminal defense of poor people. Among other topics, future standards will tackle caseloads, qualifications, compensation, and independence of the indigent defense function from the judiciary.
The MIDC strives for collaboration, transparency and accessibility in our work, and we look forward to feedback. We encourage everyone who is interested to e-mail comments on the standards to info@michiganidc.gov or mail them to 200 N. Washington Square, Lansing, MI 48933.
MIDC staff will post the comments on our website, on the page dedicated to minimum standards.
The MIDC will hold a public hearing on these standards on August 18th at 1:00 PM at the Lansing campus of Western Michigan University Cooley Law School. Video conference equipment will also allow participation from the Cooley Auburn Hills and Grand Rapids locations. All comments received prior to 5:00 p.m. Friday August 7, 2015 will be considered by Commissioners. Please check our calendar in early August for more information about attending that meeting.
Following the public hearing, the MIDC will submit standards to the Michigan Supreme Court, who will conduct their own review and comment process. When the Court approves standards, the MIDC will work with courts and government units to select compliance plans for these standards. We expect the compliance plans to be due in late 2016 based on deadlines set in the MIDC Act. The State of Michigan is then required to fund the plans. We look forward to watching this important process succeed.