NYS Establishes Board and Office of Indigent Defense Services

The New York State Legislature has passed, and Governor David Paterson has signed, a provision adding a new article 30, “Indigent Legal Services,” to the Executive Law. The provision, which also amends State Finance Law §98-b and County Law §722(3), is found in Part E of the Public Protection budget (PDF), chapter 56 of the Laws of 2010.

The legislation creates an Office of Indigent Legal Services and a nine-member Indigent Legal Services Board in the Executive Branch. The purpose of the Office and Board is to monitor, study, and make efforts to improve the quality of services provided under County Law article 18-B (which covers public defenders, legal aid offices, assigned counsel, and, now, conflict offices, and includes Family Court adult representation). The Office will make recommendations about distribution of state funds to localities for public defense, and the Board will make the final decision on those recommendations. Click here (PDF) for NYSDA's summary of the bill.

Ignition Interlock Devices and Leandra's Law

Reference Manual on Ignition Interlock Devices and Leandra's Law With the passage of Leandra's Law(Chp 496, L. 2009), NYSDA has produced a reference manual about the new law and ignition interlock devices and collected other key resources that the defense community will need to understand the new ignition interlock requirements. For more information click on this Hot Topics page: Ignition InterlockDevices and Leandra's Law.