DALLAS –At the next regular meeting, March 19, 2024, of the Dallas County Commissioner’s Court, John Wiley Price (District Three) will present the findings of a report he requested from the Texas Indigent Defense Committee in April 2023. The results, as produced, signal a need for change to comply with the Texas Code of Criminal Appeals.
The Texas Legislature created the Texas Task Force on Indigent Defense in 2001 to remedy persistent deficiencies in indigent defense, including access to counsel, quality of counsel, and data collection. In 2011, the Task Force became the Texas Indigent Defense Commission, which is charged with funding, overseeing, and improving public defense in each of Texas’s 254 counties via a team of 13 commission members and 18 staff.
Commissioner Price’s inquiry focused on the Public Defender’s Office and capital murder compliance, pre-trial magistration, capital appeals, and the appointment of defense attorneys outside the Public Defender’s Office.
The letter also asked whether merging first-degree felony and capital murder wheels into a single wheel complies with the law.
The Executive Summary laid out three serious concerns for correction.
“First, in instances where the state hasn’t provided written notice that it is not seeking death, the courts do not always appoint either two attorneys, or the Public Defender. Second, courts do not always make a finding of good calls on the record for appointing counsel other than the Public Defender in capital cases. Third appointments of private attorneys are made to individuals who are not the first administrative judicial regions approved capital appointment list.
TIDC staff stand ready to provide technical assistance to remedy these issues. TDC will conduct a second follow-up review within two years.”
These issues and findings will be discussed during the next court session.
CONTACT:
John Wiley Price – Dallas County Commissioner, District Three jprice@dallascounty.org
dfain@dallascounty.org
214-653-6671
