2006 Minnesota Statutes

611.216 CRIMINAL AND JUVENILE DEFENSE GRANTS.
    Subdivision 1. Eligible recipients. The Board of Public Defense shall establish procedures
for public defense corporations based in this state to apply for funding by the legislature. The
applications must be submitted to the board. The board must review and prioritize them and
include a recommended funding level for each corporation in the budget request the board
submits to the legislature. Money appropriated to provide criminal and juvenile defense to
indigent individuals must be distributed by the Board of Public Defense to the nonprofit criminal
and juvenile defense corporations included in the board's budget request or otherwise designated
by law. Money may not be disbursed to a corporation in the Leech Lake Reservation area or
the White Earth Reservation area without prior approval by the respective reservation tribal
council. A corporation may accept cases involving felony, gross misdemeanor, and misdemeanor
charges, and juvenile cases if financial eligibility standards are met, unless there is a legal or
ethical reason for rejecting a case. A corporation may accept cases arising outside its geographic
area of responsibility, as appropriate. Each corporation, in order to ensure broad support, shall
provide matching money received from nonstate sources, which may include money or in-kind
contribution from federal agencies, local governments, private agencies, and community groups,
equal to ten percent of its state appropriation. The Board of Public Defense shall give notice 30
days in advance and conduct a hearing if it has reasonable grounds to believe money appropriated
for this purpose is being improperly used, or if it has reasonable cause to believe criminal and
juvenile defense of proper quality is not being supplied. Payment must cease from the date of
notice until either the Board of Public Defense determines that the money appropriated will be
properly handled, or the Board of Public Defense determines that criminal and juvenile defense of
proper quality will be provided. A participating corporation may give notice at any time of its
withdrawal from this program of financial assistance.
    Subd. 1a.[Repealed, 1998 c 367 art 8 s 26]
    Subd. 2. Discrimination; penalty. An employee, administrator, officer, contractor, or agent
of a recipient of the money provided by this section who discriminates on the basis of sex, race,
color, national origin, religion, or creed is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
    Subd. 3. Report. Each corporation shall submit reports showing, at a minimum, the
number of clients served, the number of charges brought, the number of cases of each kind,
such as felonies, gross misdemeanors, misdemeanors, and juvenile delinquencies, the number
of dispositions of each kind, such as jury trials, court trials, guilty pleas, and dismissals, the
number of court appearances, and financial data.
    Subd. 4. Audits. The legislative auditor may conduct periodic postaward audits of these
grants as may be requested by the Board of Public Defense and approved by the Legislative
Audit Commission.
History: 1984 c 544 s 86; 1Sp1985 c 13 s 367,368; 1987 c 250 s 5-7; 1993 c 146 art 2 s 21;
1997 c 7 art 2 s 62