SC BAR

The Criminal Law Section Council met this date at the Bar building.  Participating members included William D. Bilton, Harry A. Dest, E. Charles Grose, Kathrine H. Hudgins, C. Kelly Jackson, Barbara R. Morgan, David P. Schwacke, Jennifer K. Shealy and Donald J. Zelenka. Representing Bar staff was Tara Smith.

Chairperson Grose called the meeting to order.

 

The first item of business was approval of the minutes from the April 15, meeting. The following statement was amended:

In absence of Chairperson Morgan, Jay Elliott briefly reviewed the portions of the report that pertained to the Section. After much discussion, the consensus of the Council was that it would maintain the existing position of the South Carolina Bar that adequate funding be made available for legal representation for indigents in civil and criminal courts. 

 

Mr. Grose moved approval of the amended minutes from the April 15 meeting. The motion was seconded and approved.

In the next item of business, Mr. Grose reviewed the proposed Section FY2005-06 goals. The goals were approved as followed:

1. Continue efforts to secure federal student loan forgiveness for assistant solicitors and public defenders and monitor pending legislation in Congress.

2. Continue to address the status of state funding for the criminal justice system and support efforts to increase state funding.

3. Continue to review and objectively evaluate the Pilot Track Docketing System and provide advice upon request to attorneys in circuits which are implementing the system.

4. Continue to monitor the timeliness of the DMH & DVS as it relates to court ordered evaluations of criminal defendants under the new procedures and protocols.

5. Monitor the impact of magistrate level appointments pursuant to Alabama v. Shelton on indigent defense system.

 

Next, it was suggested that the Council solicit the public defenders’ offices and the solicitors’ offices requesting salary ranges, loan requests, and other information that would be helpful for the survey. Ms. Smith was to forward the Council members the survey that was distributed two years prior, along with the resolution that the Board had adopted. Mr. Bilton moved that the Section establish a subcommittee to review the survey results. The motion was seconded and approved. It was reported that Mr. Dest and Mr. Wildman had volunteered to sit on the subcommittee. Mr. Grose was to present a recommendation to the Board at its November meeting.

 

It was noted that the Section’s recommendation to the Task Force on Court Appointments stated that adequate funding should be provided for legal representation for the indigent in civil and criminal courts. The Council expressed its concern that its recommendation was not properly addressed. Mr. Grose announced that he would contact the Bar Executive Director, Bob Wells, to further discuss the issue.

Next was discussion on evaluating the Pilot Track Docketing system. It was suggested that information be collected from the various circuits implementing the project. The Council was to compare its findings and conduct a survey on how to improve the system. It was noted that the county bar associations would be contacted for assistance. 

 

Finally, Mr. Grose welcomed volunteers to assist in drafting the questionnaries. Ms. Hudgins and Ms. Shealy volunteered to submit a proposed survey at the next Council meeting. 

 

There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned.