A guide for municipalities who are the court funding unit has been developed to assist with compliance of the first four standards issued by the MIDC. The document provides instructions for determining local cost share and illustrates a sample plan.

This spring the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs approved the MIDC’s first four standards for indigent criminal defense services. Those first four standards cover training and education of counsel, the initial client interview, use of investigation and experts, and counsel at first appearance and other critical stages.

The full text of the approved standards can be found on the MIDC’s website.

The MIDC has approved several documents to assist funding units with compliance planning for MIDC Standards 1, 2, 3, and 4. The Commission has published a detailed application with instructions for completing the form, a guide for submission of compliance plans, cost analyses, and local share calculations, as well as sample plans for a variety of systems to consider. The MIDC has Regional Managers working statewide to assist with compliance planning.  Application workshops will be conducted throughout September for work group members to attend via webinar.

Every court funding unit in Michigan is required to submit a plan for compliance with the first four standards for indigent defense, along with a cost analysis, to the MIDC no later than November 20, 2017. Contact your MIDC Regional Manager for questions or further information.

Jennifer Rigterink is a legislative associate for the League handling economic development, land use and municipal services issues.  She can be reached at jrigterink@mml.org or 517-908-0305.