The Speaker of the House of Representatives, B. Patrick Bauer, appointed two new members to the Indiana Public Defender Commission in November 2008: Representative Vernon Smith and Representative Greg Steuerwald. Representative Vernon G. Smith was appointed to replace Phil Hoy, a former representative from Evansville who chose not to run for reelection. Representative Smith represents House District 14, which includes his hometown of Gary and portions of Lake Station and Hobart Township. In addition to being appointed a member of the Public Defender Commission, Representative Smith also serves on the House Education and the Courts and Criminal Code Committees. He has served on the Criminal Justice Institute Board of Trustees.
Representative Greg Steuerwald, House District 40 in Hendricks County, was appointed to replace Amos Thomas, a representative from Brazil who was not reelected. Representative Steuerwald also serves on the House Committees on Government and Regulatory Reform and Courts and Criminal Code. Steuerwald is an attorney with Steuerwald, Zielinski & Witham, and resides in Danville, Indiana.
The Indiana legislature created a Public Defense Fund, which is administered by the Division of State Court Administration, to reimburse counties for the costs associated with indigent legal defense in capital and non-capital cases and to improve delivery of legal services by requiring compliance with the Indiana Public Defender Commission Standards. State law authorizes counties to receive reimbursements of 50% of expenditures for indigent defense services in capital cases and up to 40% in non-capital cases. The United States and Indiana Constitutions mandate these services.
All 92 Indiana counties are eligible for reimbursement of indigent defense costs in capital cases if they comply with standards in Criminal Rule 24 established by the Supreme Court. The Commission gives priority to requests for reimbursement of defense expenses in death penalty cases. From 1990 to 2008, the Public Defense Fund disbursed in excess of $9 million to Indiana counties to assist with their defense costs in capital cases.
Currently, 50 Indiana counties qualify for reimbursement from the Public Defense Fund for non-capital public defense expenses. These counties comprise over 65% of Indiana’s population. The Indiana Public Defender Commission meets four times during each fiscal year to audit and approve claims by the counties. For FY07-08, the Indiana legislature provided $14.5 million to reimburse counties for indigent defense services in capital and non-capital cases. The Commission was able to distribute $14,341,796 to counties. The appropriation for FY08-09 is $15.25 million and the Commission has distributed $11.5 million to date.