Montana Code 47-1-102. Purpose
47-1-102. Purpose. The purposes of this chapter are to:
Terms Used In Montana Code 47-1-102
- Indigent: means that a person has been determined under the provisions of 47-1-111 to be indigent and financially unable to retain private counsel. See Montana Code 47-1-103
- Public defender: Represent defendants who can't afford an attorney in criminal matters.
- Public defender: means an attorney employed by or under contract with the office and assigned to provide legal counsel to a person under the provisions of this chapter, including attorneys employed by or under contract with the appellate defender division and the conflict defender division. See Montana Code 47-1-103
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- system: means the system of public defender services established pursuant to this chapter. See Montana Code 47-1-103
(1)establish a statewide public defender system to provide effective assistance of counsel to indigent criminal defendants and other persons in civil cases who are entitled by law to assistance of counsel at public expense;
(2)ensure that the system is free from undue political interference and conflicts of interest;
(3)provide that public defender services are delivered by qualified and competent counsel in a manner that is fair and consistent throughout the state;
(4)establish a system that utilizes state employees, contracted services, or other methods of providing services in a manner that is responsive to and respective of regional and community needs and interests;
(5)ensure that adequate public funding of the statewide public defender system is provided and managed in a fiscally responsible manner; and
(6)ensure that clients of the statewide public defender system pay reasonable costs for services provided by the system based on the clients’ financial ability to pay.