Section 13. The committee shall appoint a chief counsel, whose responsibilities and duties shall be defined by the committee and shall include, but not be limited to, the overall supervision of the workings of the various divisions of the committee. The committee shall further appoint two deputy chief counsel, with duties defined by the committee, one of whom shall supervise the public defender division, and the other shall supervise the private counsel division. The committee shall also prescribe the procedures for the appointment of all legal and nonlegal staff of the public defender division and for the procurement of office space as may be required. The chief counsel shall authorize the certification of all payments under section twenty-seven G of chapter two hundred and sixty-one and section twenty of chapter twenty-nine. All legal and nonlegal staff of the public counsel division shall be full time and shall devote their entire time during ordinary business hours to their duties and shall neither directly or indirectly engage in the private practice of law. The chief counsel and deputy chief counsels shall likewise devote full time to their duties. The chief counsel, deputy chief counsels and all legal and non-legal staff of the committee, including staff attorneys hired under subparagraphs (a) and (b) of section 6 but not including persons described in the fourth sentence of said subparagraph (b) of said section 6, shall be considered public employees for purposes of chapter 258. The chief counsel shall be paid a salary comparable to the salary paid to a district attorney. The salaries of the deputy chief counsels shall be established by the committee. All other legal staff of the public defender division shall be paid at salaries comparable to the salary paid to an attorney employed in a district attorney’s office.

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The counsel and other employees appointed by the committee shall not be subject to the provisions of chapter thirty-one.