Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:185.6 – Special reporting requirements; indigent parent representation cases; penalties
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:185.6
- Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- indigent defender: means an attorney employed by or under contract with the board, the district public defender, or a nonprofit organization contracting with the board or the district public defender to provide representation, including curatorship appointments, to indigent or absent parents in child abuse and neglect cases as required by the provisions of the Children's Code. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:185.2
- Office: means the office of the state public defender as created by Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:185.2
- Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
- Public defender: Represent defendants who can't afford an attorney in criminal matters.
A. In addition to the general oversight requirements provided by law, each district public defender shall submit an annual report to the office no later than February first of each year, commencing in 2008. The report, using the uniform definition of a “case” as defined in Subsection C of this Section, shall include detailed information of the district’s workload, resources, employees, and expenditures for the previous fiscal year.
B.(1) The district public defender shall be responsible for preparing, completing, and submitting the annual report to the office as provided for in Subsection A of this Section.
(2) The district public defender shall be subject to the penalties provided for in Paragraph (3) of this Subsection, payable out of the judicial district indigent defender fund, to the office if any of the following occur:
(a) The failure to file a report.
(b) The failure to timely file a report.
(c) The failure to disclose or accurately disclose any required information.
(d) The filing of a false report.
(3) The amount of the penalty shall be one hundred dollars for each day until the report or the required accurate information is filed.
C. For purposes of this Section, a “case” is defined as a proceeding initiated by the state against an indigent or absent parent or parents pursuant to Title VI or Title X of the Louisiana Children’s Code. Any appeal from a final judgment in such cases shall be counted as a separate case. In the event that a case involves multiple children, the district public defender, or regional director, where applicable, shall track, record, and report the number of children per case.
D. The office shall draft, administer, and furnish reporting forms to the district public defender which request detailed information of the district’s workload, resources, employees, and expenditures for the previous fiscal year based on the uniform definition of a “case” as defined in Subsection C of this Section.
Acts 2007, No. 95, §2; Acts 2016, No. 407, §2, eff. June 5, 2016; Acts 2024, 2nd Ex. Sess., No. 22, §1, eff. March 20, 2024.