{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-22-22-1355.4","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 22, § 22-1355.4","heading":"Executive Director","body":"A. The chief executive officer of the Oklahoma Indigent Defense\n\nSystem shall be the Executive Director, who shall be appointed by\n\nthe Board and serve at the pleasure of the Board. The Executive\n\nDirector shall be an attorney who has practiced law for at least\n\nfour (4) years preceding the appointment and who is licensed to\n\npractice law in this state or is eligible to become so licensed\n\nwithin one (1) year of the appointment. The Executive Director\n\nshall have experience in the representation of persons accused or\n\nconvicted of crimes.\n\nB. The Executive Director shall perform administrative\n\nfunctions which serve the Board.\n\nC. The Executive Director shall have the following powers and\n\nduties:\n\n1. To prepare and administer an annual budget approved by the\n\nBoard and to process claims for the System;\n\n2. To enter into contracts to provide counsel in cases in which\n\nthe defendant is indigent and unable to employ counsel, to enter\n\ninto contracts with individuals, educational institutions, or state\n\nor federal agencies for other purposes, and to approve or disapprove\n\nthe provisions of any such contract;\n\n3. To review and approve or disapprove claims for expenditures\n\nof monies;\n\n4. To take such actions as shall strengthen the criminal\n\njustice system in this state;\n\n5. To promote the education and training of all attorneys\n\nrepresenting indigent criminal defendants including, subject to\n\navailable funding, nationally recognized defense seminars and\n\nevidence-based practices regarding behavioral health and treatment\n\nof defendants with substance abuse or mental health needs;\n\n6. To maintain and improve effective representation for the\n\nindigent criminal defendant;\n\n7. To employ personnel as necessary to carry out the duties\n\nimposed upon the System by law and to set the salaries of such\n\npersonnel, subject to the salary schedules adopted by the Board;\n\n8. To solicit and maintain a current list of attorneys licensed\n\nto practice law in this state who are willing to accept case\n\nassignments from the System and who meet any other qualifications as\n\nset by the Board;\n\n9. To solicit and maintain a separate list of persons eligible\n\nfor appointment to capital cases, who meet the qualifications set by\n\nthe System;\n\n10. To establish reasonable hourly rates of compensation for\n\nattorneys appointed in accordance with the Indigent Defense Act,\n\nsubject to approval by the Board;\n\n11. To establish maximum caseloads for attorneys employed by\n\nthe System, subject to approval by the Board;\n\n12. To reduce caseloads through reassignment of cases to\n\nprivate attorneys, as necessary;\n\n13. To approve the sharing of office space, equipment, or\n\npersonnel among the separate indigent defense programs within the\n\nSystem;\n\n14. To prepare and submit to the Board an annual report for the\n\npreceding fiscal year regarding the efforts of the System to\n\nimplement the purposes of the Indigent Defense Act, and to file that\n\nreport with the Governor, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate,\n\nthe Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chief Justice of\n\nthe Oklahoma Supreme Court, and the Presiding Judge of the Oklahoma\n\nCourt of Criminal Appeals;\n\n15. To conduct regional or statewide conferences and training\n\nseminars for the purpose of implementing the provisions of the\n\nIndigent Defense Act;\n\n16. To provide System personnel who serve in an advisory\n\ncapacity to the indigent defenders and defense attorneys who\n\nrepresent indigents pursuant to contract or who agree to accept\n\ncases assigned by the System to represent indigents of this state;\n\n17. To gather and disseminate information to indigent\n\ndefenders, including, but not limited to, changes in the law;\n\n18. To recommend additional legislation necessary to upgrade\n\nthe Oklahoma Indigent Defense System or to improve the justice\n\nsystem; and\n\n19. To operate a cost-effective system by:\ncontract or who agree to accept\n\ncases assigned by the System to represent indigents of this state;\n\n17. To gather and disseminate information to indigent\n\ndefenders, including, but not limited to, changes in the law;\n\n18. To recommend additional legislation necessary to upgrade\n\nthe Oklahoma Indigent Defense System or to improve the justice\n\nsystem; and\n\n19. To operate a cost-effective system by:\n\na. implementing procedures to track System expenditures\n\nto show costs by case and client and to track time and\n\nexpenses by attorney if the attorney is employed by\n\nthe System,\n\nb. adopting written policies regarding when employees are\n\nto be in travel status and making efforts to reduce\n\ntravel costs, and\n\nc. reviewing assignment of indigency status to identify\n\nclients who have available resources, and collecting\n\ncosts of representation when feasible.\n\nD. 1. The Executive Director is hereby authorized to develop,\n\nestablish, and maintain lists of approved contractors who have\n\nagreed to provide expert services to the System. The lists shall\n\ninclude any expert who desires to furnish services to the System and\n\nwho has filed a schedule of fees for services with, and on a form\n\napproved by, the Executive Director. Any deviation in excess of the\n\npublished schedule of fees shall require the prior written approval\n\nof the Executive Director. Any attorney appointed or assigned cases\n\nin accordance with the Indigent Defense Act may request expert\n\nservices from the list of experts maintained by the Executive\n\nDirector. The Executive Director or designee may, in said person's\n\nsole discretion, approve requests for expert services; provided,\n\nhowever, that nothing contained in the Indigent Defense Act shall be\n\nconstrued to render the Executive Director a member of the defense\n\nteam in any System client's case for strategic purposes.\n\n2. Attorneys appointed or assigned cases in accordance with the\n\nIndigent Defense Act may request investigative or other nonexpert\n\nwitness services from the Executive Director on a form provided by\n\nthe Executive Director. The Executive Director or designee may, in\n\nsaid person's sole discretion, approve requests for such services at\n\na reasonable hourly rate of compensation; provided, however, that\n\nnothing contained in the Indigent Defense Act shall be construed to\n\nrender the Executive Director a member of the defense team in any\n\nSystem client's case for strategic purposes.\n\n3. Services obtained under this section may be obtained as sole\n\nsource contracts and are specifically exempt from the requirements\n\nof soliciting no less than three quotations found in paragraph 7 of\n\nsubsection A of Section 85.45j of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes.\n\nE. Each individual performing the services provided for in\n\nsubsection D of this section may, with the approval of the Executive\n\nDirector, be reimbursed for necessary travel expenses up to the\n\namount permitted by the State Travel Reimbursement Act.\n\nF. Requests for expenses not included in subsections D and E of\n\nthis section shall require preapproval by the Executive Director.","path":["OK Code","Title 22"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os22.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"d21727f9d74b407408593cdc7bdeb6fa0df1f4e98e723cf3fd084f06972939e3","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-22-22-1355.3","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-22-22-1355.6"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}