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31.030 Authority and duties of department.

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31.030 Authority and duties of department. The authority and duties of the Department of Public Advocacy shall include but are not <br>limited to: <br>(1) Administering the statewide public advocacy system created by this chapter or by any other appropriate legislation or court decision; (2) Providing technical aid to local counsel representing indigents; <br>(3) Assisting local counsel on appeals or taking appeals for local counsel, in the same manner as such appeals for the Commonwealth are presently handled by the <br>Attorney General; (4) Developing and promulgating standards and regulations, rules, and procedures for administration of the defense of indigent defendants in criminal cases which the <br>public advocate, statutes, or the courts determine are subject to public assistance; (5) Appointing assistant public advocates; <br>(6) Reviewing local plans for providing counsel for indigents; <br>(7) Conducting research into, and developing and implementing methods of, improving the operation of the criminal justice system with regard to indigent defendants and <br>other defendants in criminal actions; (8) Issuing such rules, regulations, and standards as may be reasonably necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter, the decisions of the United States Supreme <br>Court, the decisions of the Kentucky Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and other <br>applicable court decisions or statutes; (9) Being authorized to pursue legal, administrative, and other appropriate remedies to insure the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities; (10) Being authorized to purchase liability insurance for the protection of all full-time public advocates, deputy public advocates, and assistant public advocates to protect <br>them from liability for malpractice arising in the course or scope of employment <br>and for the protection of attorneys with whom the Department of Public Advocacy <br>contracts to protect them from liability for malpractice arising in the course or scope <br>of the contract; (11) Being authorized to seek and apply for and solicit funds for the operation of the defense of the indigent, or protection of the persons with disabilities programs from <br>any source, public or private, and to receive donations, grants, awards, and similar <br>funds from any legal source. Those funds shall be placed in a special account for the <br>Department of Public Advocacy and those funds shall not lapse; (12) Being authorized to assign a substitute attorney, for good cause, at any stage of representation, including appeal or other post-conviction proceeding. The substitute <br>attorney shall have the same functions with respect to the needy person as the <br>attorney for whom he or she is substituted; and (13) Do such other things and institute such other programs as are reasonably necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter, or those decisions or statutes which are <br>the subject of subsection (8) of this section. Effective: July 15, 2002 History: Amended 2002 Ky. Acts ch. 283, sec. 3, effective July 15, 2002. -- Amended 1978 Ky. Acts ch. 155, sec. 21, effective June 17, 1978. -- Amended 1976 (1st Extra. <br>Sess.) Ky. Acts ch. 14, sec. 8. -- Created 1972 Ky. Acts ch. 353, sec. 3.