Corporation: Powers and Duties

The Corporation shall:

(a)Accept all appointments from the courts of Guam to provide indigent defense, and legal services, unless all divisions have a conflict of interest, or excessive workloads. It shall be the duty of the Corporation to defend indigent persons charged in criminal cases before the courts of Guam. The determination of whether a defendant is indigent and whether the case is to be referred to the Corporation shall be at the discretion of the judge before whom such defendant is appearing. The Corporation may assist the judges of the courts of Guam in ruling on cases of indigency and in establishing criteria for determining when the services of the Corporation are appropriate.

(b)Render civil legal services to those persons in Guam, who, under rules established by the Corporation, are in the greatest economic and social need of legal assistance and representation, subject to the availability of funds. The Corporation shall not accept fee-generating cases and shall give legal assistance in civil matters only to those who would otherwise not receive such assistance. The Corporation may apply for, receive, and administer grants, subgrants or enter into intragovernmental and intergovernmental agreements to provide legal services to elderly individuals or other classes of individuals in need, as defined pursuant to local or federal laws, regulations, or guidelines. The Corporation is authorized to comply with the requirements of federal grants, subgrants, and intragovernmental and intergovernmental agreements, to include representation of individuals who may qualify for services pursuant to the terms of federal grants, subgrants, and intragovernmental and intergovernmental agreements.

(c)Apply for, receive, distribute, and administer grants.

(d)Establish divisions to oversee a public legal services delivery system that shall consist of, at a minimum, the following: CH. 11 GUAM PUBLIC DEFENDER SERVICE CORPORATION ACT

(1)Administration Division to provide for the day-to-day operations of the Corporation and to provide training, human resources, technology, data collection, finance, accounting, resources, communication, administrative support to all other divisions, and other such duties as assigned by the Director.

(2)Public Defender Division to provide public legal services to indigent persons in criminal and juvenile proceedings, including Petitions for Persons in Need of Services, appeals therefrom, and in writ proceedings involving the protection of constitutional rights, when those persons are entitled to public legal services in the Superior Court of Guam, unless the Public Defender Division has a conflict of interest, and other such duties as assigned by the Director.

(3)Alternate Public Defender Division to provide public legal services to indigent persons in criminal and juvenile proceedings when the Public Defender Division has a conflict of interest, unless the Alternate Public Defender Division has a conflict of interest, and other such duties as assigned by the Director.

(4)Civil Law Division to provide civil legal representation to indigent persons, unless the Civil Law Center has a conflict of interest. In accordance to the mandates under 12 G.C.A. § 11105, the Civil Law Center shall be strictly responsible for handling only matters relating to civil public legal services. To avoid conflicts, the Civil Law Center shall not receive criminal court appointments.

(5)Private Attorney Panel Division to provide public legal services to indigent persons in criminal and juvenile cases, including Petitions for Persons in Need of Services, appeals therefrom, and in writ proceedings involving the protection of constitutional rights, when those persons are entitled to public legal services in the Superior and Supreme courts of Guam who cannot be represented by any other division due to a conflict of interest. Private Attorney Panel providers and support staff providing this representation shall not be employees of the Corporation. This division may include a panel of investigators appointed to assist Private Attorney Panel attorneys on a case by case basis. The Private Attorney Panel Division shall consist of attorneys qualified by Board Policy to receive appointments for the provision of public legal services when both the Public Defender Division and Alternate Public Defender divisions is unable to represent an indigent defendant due to a conflict of interest. Such private attorneys may be retained as independent contractors based upon possessing qualifications established by the Board and receiving a rate of One Hundred and Fifty Dollars ($150) per hour, subject to casetype-based caps, until the Corporation develops and adopts alternative compensation policies, in consultation with the Guam Bar Association.

(6)The Director may establish such divisions or other organizational units as may be determined to be necessary for the efficient and effective administration and operation of the Corporation.

(e)Advocate to the government of Guam for resources and policies necessary to ensure effective public legal services, to include resource parity.

(f)Has the power to do any and all things necessary to further the purposes of this Chapter and to perform the duties imposed by subsection

(a)and (b).

(g)Has the power to sue on behalf of the Corporation, its client, or its employees, to enforce any rights granted to the Corporation or mandated by law or granted by the Organic Act of Guam, the U.S. Constitution or the laws of Guam. CH. 11 GUAM PUBLIC DEFENDER SERVICE CORPORATION ACT

(h)Has the power to lease, evict, or sue on behalf of the Corporation, relative to the Corporation’s properties, equipment, and facilities.