ENGROSSED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 177
(By Senators Bowman, Caruth, Jenkins and Love)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported February 27, 2006.]
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A BILL to repeal §29-21-12, §29-21-13 and §29-21-13a of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact
§29-21-3, §29-21-6, §29-21-8, §29-21-9, §29-21-10, §29-21-11
and §29-21-16 of said code, all relating to Public Defender
Services generally; continuing Public Defender Services;
creating the Indigent Defense Commission; specifying members
and their terms; transferring certain powers and duties of
agency to the executive director and Indigent Defense
Commission; authorizing the executive director to reduce or
reject certain vouchers; authorizing resubmission of reduced
or rejected vouchers; activation of corporations; permitting
the employment of both full-time and part-time attorneys;
allowing for contracting with part-time attorneys; mandating
the order of appointment of panel attorneys; removing certain
sections relating to public defender corporations' funding;
requiring corporations to submit budget; authorizing amended funding contracts; providing for payment of fees to panel
attorneys; and requiring services provided to public defender
corporations.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §29-21-12, §29-21-13 and §29-21-13a of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, be repealed; and that §29-21-3,
§29-21-6, §29-21-8, §29-21-9, §29-21-10, §29-21-11 and §29-21-16 of
said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 21. PUBLIC DEFENDER SERVICES.
§29-21-3. Continuation of public defender services; establishment
of Indigent Defense Commission; termination date.
(a) There is hereby
created an continued the executive agency
known as Public Defender Services. The agency shall administer,
coordinate and evaluate programs by which the state provides legal
representation to indigent persons, monitor the progress of various
delivery systems and recommend improvements. The agency shall
maintain its office at the State Capitol.
(b) (1) There is hereby established the Indigent Defense
Commission to advise the executive director with regard to the
general policies and procedures of the agency, including, but not
limited to, the opening of public defender offices throughout the
state and the establishment of performance measures for qualitative
review of indigent defense.
(2) The commission shall be composed of nine members who shall
be chosen with regard for their expertise in managing law-related organizations or their expertise in fiscal and personnel
management. Members shall demonstrate a commitment to the delivery
of legal services to the indigent and shall be chosen from as broad
a geographic area as possible. In order to demonstrate a
collaborative approach to solving criminal justice problems, the
commission shall be constituted as follows:
(A) Two former or retired circuit judges to be appointed by
the President of the West Virginia Judicial Association, one of
whom previously presided in a circuit without an active public
defender corporation;
(B) Two lawyers experienced in providing legal services to the
poor to be appointed by the President of the West Virginia State
Bar;
(C) One current chief public defender to be appointed by the
Executive Director of Public Defender Services;
(D) The Director of the Prosecuting Attorneys Institute, ex
officio;
(E) The Administrative Director to the Supreme Court of
Appeals, ex officio; and
(F) Two nonlawyers with a demonstrated commitment to providing
legal services to the indigent, one to be appointed by the
President of the Senate and one to be appointed by the Speaker of
the House of Delegates.
(3) Commission members shall serve for a term of four years to
coincide with the term of the Governor. Upon first meeting after
the beginning of a new gubernatorial term, the members shall select one of their number to serve as chair for the duration of the
Governor's term. Members may be reappointed for an unlimited
number of terms.
(4) The commission shall meet upon the call of either the
chair or the executive director, but shall meet no less than twice
a year. Members shall serve without compensation but may receive
reimbursement of reasonable and necessary expenses.
(5) Whenever the Indigent Defense Commission casts a vote and
the vote is a tie, the executive director is authorized to cast the
deciding vote.
§29-21-6. Powers, duties and limitations.
(a) Consistent with the provisions of this article, the
agency
executive director is authorized to make grants to and contracts
with public defender corporations and with individuals,
partnerships, firms, corporations and nonprofit organizations for
the purpose of providing legal representation under this article
and may make
such any other grants and contracts
as that are
necessary to carry out the purposes and provisions of this article.
(b) The
agency executive director is authorized to accept, and
employ or dispose of in furtherance of the purposes of this
article, any money or property, real, personal or mixed, tangible
or intangible, received by gift, devise, bequest or otherwise.
(c) The
agency executive director or his or her designee shall
establish and
the executive director or his designee shall operate
a criminal law research center as provided
for in section seven of
this article. This center shall undertake directly, or by grant or contract, to serve as a clearinghouse for information; to provide
training and technical assistance
relating related to the delivery
of legal representation; and to engage in research, except that
broad general legal or policy research unrelated to direct
representation of eligible clients may not be undertaken.
(d) The agency shall establish and the executive director or
his
or her designate designee shall operate an Accounting and
Auditing Division to require and monitor the compliance with this
article by public defender corporations and other persons or
entities receiving funding or compensation from the agency.
The
executive director may reduce or reject vouchers or requests for
payment submitted pursuant to section nine of this article found
not to be in compliance with the provisions of this article. This
Any voucher reduced or rejected may be resubmitted. The Accounting
and Auditing Division shall review all plans and proposals for
grants and contracts and shall make a recommendation of approval or
disapproval to the executive director. The
Accounting and Auditing
Division shall prepare, or cause to be prepared, reports concerning
the evaluation, inspection or monitoring of public defender
corporations and other grantees, contractors, persons or entities
receiving financial assistance under this article and shall further
carry out the agency's responsibilities for records and reports as
set forth in section eighteen of this article.
The Accounting and Auditing Division shall require each public
defender corporation to
periodically submit financial statements
monthly and to report
monthly on the billable and nonbillable time of its professional employees, including time
utilized used in
administration of the respective offices, so as to compare
such the
time to similar time expended in nonpublic law offices for
like
similar activities.
The Accounting and Auditing Division shall provide to the
executive director assistance in the fiscal administration of all
of the agency's divisions.
Such This assistance shall include, but
not be limited to, budget preparation and statistical analysis.
(e) The agency shall establish and the executive director or
a person designated by the executive director his or her designee
shall operate an Appellate Advocacy Division for the purpose of
prosecuting litigation on behalf of eligible clients in the Supreme
Court of Appeals. The executive director or
a person designated by
the executive director his or her designee shall be the Director of
the Appellate Advocacy Division. The Appellate Advocacy Division
shall represent eligible clients upon appointment by the circuit
courts or by the Supreme Court of Appeals. The division may,
however, refuse
such the appointments due to a conflict of interest
or if the executive director has determined the existing caseload
cannot be increased without jeopardizing the appellate division's
ability to provide effective representation. In order to
effectively and efficiently
utilize use the resources of the
appellate division, the executive director may restrict the
provision of appellate representation to certain types of cases.
The executive director
is empowered to may select and employ
staff attorneys to perform the duties prescribed by this subsection. The
appellate division shall maintain
vouchers and
records
for of representation of eligible clients for record
purposes only.
§29-21-8. Public defender corporations; establishment thereof.
(a) In each judicial circuit of the state there is hereby
created a "public defender corporation" of the circuit. The
purpose of these public defender corporations is to provide legal
representation in the respective circuits in accordance with the
provisions of this article.
(b) If the judge of a single-judge circuit, the chief judge of
a multijudge circuit or a majority of the active members of the bar
in the circuit determine there is a need to activate
the one or
more corporation corporations, they shall certify that fact in
writing to the executive director, the executive director shall
allocate funds to those corporations so certifying in the order in
which he or she deems most efficient and cost effective.
(c)
The executive director with the approval of the Indigent
Defense Commission may require public defender corporations
may
apply in writing to the executive director for permission to merge
to form multicircuit or regional public defender corporations
where
a merger would improve the quality of services and efficient use of
resources. Applications for mergers shall be subject to the review
procedures set forth in section eleven of this article Public
defender corporations may employ both full-time and employ or
contract with part-time attorneys in whatever combination is most
cost effective.
§29-21-9. Panel attorneys.
(a) In each circuit of the state, the circuit court shall
establish and maintain regional and local panels of private
attorneys-at-law who
shall be are available to serve as counsel for
eligible clients.
An attorney-at-law may become a panel attorney and be enrolled
on the regional or local panel, or both, to serve as counsel for
eligible clients by informing the court. An agreement to accept
cases generally or certain types of cases particularly
shall may
not prevent a panel attorney from declining an appointment in a
specific case.
(b) In all cases where an attorney-at-law is required to be
appointed for an eligible client, the appointment shall be made by
the circuit judge
in the following order of preference:
(1) In circuits where a public defender office is in
operation, the judge shall appoint the public defender office
unless
such an appointment is not appropriate due to a conflict of
interest or unless the public defender corporation board of
directors or the public defender, with the approval of the board,
has notified the court that the existing caseload cannot be
increased without jeopardizing the ability of defenders to provide
effective representation;
(2) If the public defender office is not available for
appointment, the court shall appoint one or more
panel attorneys
from the local panel permanent part-time attorneys with whom the
public defender corporation in that circuit has contracted with to provide representation of eligible indigent individuals independent
of any relationship with the circuit's public defender office;
(3) If there is no
local panel permanent part-time attorney
available, the judge shall appoint one or more panel attorneys from
the
regional panel circuit;
(4) If there is no
regional local panel attorney available,
the judge may appoint a public defender office from an adjoining
circuit if
such the public defender office agrees to the
appointment;
(5) If the adjoining public defender office does not accept
the appointment, the judge may appoint a panel attorney from an
adjoining circuit; or
(6) If a panel attorney from an adjoining circuit is
unavailable, the judge may appoint a panel attorney from any
circuit.
In circuits where no public defender office is in operation,
the judge shall first refer to the local panel and then to the
regional panel in making appointments, and if an appointment cannot
be made from the panel attorneys, the judge may appoint the public
defender office of an adjoining circuit if the office agrees to the
appointment. In any circuit, when there is no public defender, or
assistant public defender, local panel attorney or regional panel
attorney available, the judge may appoint one or more qualified
private attorneys to provide representation, and such private
attorney or attorneys shall be treated as panel attorneys for that
specific case. In any given case, the appointing judge may alter the order in which attorneys are appointed if the case requires
particular knowledge or experience on the part of the attorney to
be appointed.
(c) Any time a court, in appointing counsel pursuant to the
provisions of this section, does not comply with the order of
preference set forth herein, the order of appointment shall contain
the court's reasons for doing so.
§29-21-10. Public defender corporation funding; annual budgets;
funding; record keeping by public defender
corporations.
(a) On or before the first day of May of each year, every
public defender corporation shall submit to the executive director
a proposed budget for the next ensuing fiscal year. The Accounting
and Auditing Division shall review all funding applications and the
executive director shall prepare recommendations for an operating
plan and annual budget for each public defender corporation. Upon
consultation with each corporation board, the executive director
shall execute a funding contract for the fiscal year and shall
commit funds for that purpose.
(b) Upon final approval of a funding application by the
executive
director, the approved budget shall be set forth in an
approval notice. The total cost to the agency shall not exceed the
amount set forth in the approval notice and the agency may not be
obligated to reimburse the recipient for costs incurred in excess
of that amount unless and until a program modification has been approved in accordance with the provisions of this article. At the
discretion of the executive director, when case loads rise or
unusual expenses occur, funding contracts may be amended during a
fiscal year when an amended contract is necessary to provide
cost-effective representation.
(c) Funding of public defender corporations or other programs
or entities providing legal representation under the provisions of
this article shall be by annual grants disbursed in periodic
allotments that the executive director considers appropriate.
(d) All recipients of funding under this article shall
maintain the records required by the executive director.
§29-21-11. Compensation and expenses for panel attorneys.
(a) All panel attorneys shall maintain detailed and accurate
records of the time expended and expenses incurred on behalf of
eligible clients and upon completion of each case, exclusive of
appeal, shall submit to the appointing court a voucher for
services. Claims for fees and expense reimbursements shall be
submitted to the appointing court on forms approved by the
executive director after the first day of January, two thousand
two. Absent just cause, the executive director shall reject claims
for attorney services by Public Defender Services received more
than one hundred eighty calendar days after the last date of
service.
The appointing court shall review the voucher to determine if
the time and expense claims are reasonable, necessary and valid and
shall forward the voucher to the agency with an order approving payment of the claimed amount or of a lesser sum the court
considers appropriate.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section to the
contrary, Public Defender Services may pay by direct bill, prior to
the completion of the case, litigation expenses incurred by
attorneys appointed under this article.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section to the
contrary, a panel attorney may be compensated for services rendered
and reimbursed for expenses incurred prior to the completion of the
case where: (1) More than six months have expired since the
commencement of the panel attorney's representation in the case;
and (2) no prior payment of attorney fees has been made to the
panel attorney by Public Defender Services during the case. The
executive director, in his or her discretion, may authorize
periodic payments where ongoing representation extends beyond six
months in duration. The amounts of any fees or expenses paid to
the panel attorney on an interim basis, when combined with any
amounts paid to the panel attorney at the conclusion of the case,
may not exceed the limitations on fees and expenses imposed by this
section.
(d) In each case in which a panel attorney provides legal
representation under this article and in each appeal after
conviction in circuit court, the panel attorney shall be
compensated at the following rates for actual and necessary time
expended for services performed and expenses incurred subsequent to
the effective date of this article:
(1) For attorney's work performed out of court, compensation
is at the rate of forty-five dollars per hour. For paralegal's
work performed out of court for the attorney, compensation is at
the rate of the paralegal's regular compensation on an hourly basis
or, if salaried, at the hourly rate of compensation which would
produce the paralegal's current salary, but in no event may the
compensation exceed twenty dollars per hour. Out-of-court work
includes, but is not limited to, interviews of clients or
witnesses, preparation of pleadings, prehearing or pretrial
research and travel time. Travel expenses authorized by rules
promulgated pursuant to section eleven, article eight, chapter
twelve of this code may be allowed.
(2) For attorney's work performed in court, compensation shall
be at the rate of sixty-five dollars per hour. No compensation for
paralegal's work performed in court is allowed. In-court work
includes time spent in hearing or trial before a judge, magistrate,
special master or other judicial officer and all time spent waiting
for hearings before judges, magistrates, special masters or other
judicial officers.
(3) The maximum amount of compensation for out-of-court and
in-court work under this subsection is as follows: For proceedings
of any kind involving felonies for which a penalty of life
imprisonment may be imposed, the amount approved by the court; for
all other eligible proceedings, three thousand dollars unless the
court, for good cause shown, approves payment of a larger sum.
(e) Actual and necessary expenses incurred in providing legal representation for proceedings of any kind involving felonies for
which a penalty of life imprisonment may be imposed, including, but
not limited to, expenses for travel, transcripts, salaried or
contracted investigative services and expert witnesses, shall be
reimbursed in an amount approved by the court. For all other
eligible proceedings, actual and necessary expenses incurred in
providing legal representation, including, but not limited to,
expenses for travel, transcripts, salaried or contracted
investigative services and expert witnesses, shall be reimbursed to
a maximum of fifteen hundred dollars unless the court, for good
cause shown, approves reimbursement of a larger sum.
Expense vouchers shall specifically set forth the nature,
amount and purpose of expenses incurred and shall provide receipts,
invoices or other documentation required by the executive director
and the State Auditor.
(1) (A) Reimbursement of expenses for production of
transcripts of proceedings reported by a court reporter is limited
to the cost per original page and per copy as set forth in section
four, article seven, chapter fifty-one of this code.
(B) (i) There may be no reimbursement of expenses for or
production of a transcript of a preliminary hearing before a
magistrate or juvenile referee, or of a magistrate court bench or
jury trial, where the preliminary hearing or jury trial has also
been recorded electronically in accordance with the provisions of
section eight, article five, chapter fifty of this code or court
rule.
(ii) Reimbursement of an appearance fee for a court reporter
who reports a proceeding other than one described in subparagraph
(i) of this paragraph is limited to twenty-five dollars. Where a
transcript of a proceeding is produced, there may be no
reimbursement for the expense of any appearance fee.
(iii) There may be no reimbursement for hourly court
reporters' fees or fees for other time expended by the court
reporter, either at the proceeding or traveling to or from the
proceeding.
(C) Reimbursement of the cost of transcription of tapes
electronically recorded during preliminary hearings or magistrate
court jury trials is limited to one dollar per page.
(2) Reimbursement for any travel expense incurred in an
eligible proceeding is limited to the rates for the reimbursement
of travel expenses established by rules promulgated by the Governor
pursuant to the provisions of section eleven, article eight,
chapter twelve of this code and administered by the Secretary of
the Department of Administration pursuant to the provisions of
section forty-eight, article three, chapter five-a of this code.
(3) Reimbursement for investigative services is limited to a
rate of thirty dollars per hour for work performed by an
investigator.
(f) For purposes of compensation under this section, an appeal
from a final order of the circuit court, or a writ seeking an
extraordinary remedy made to the Supreme Court of Appeals, is
considered a separate case. An appeal from magistrate court to circuit court is considered a separate case.
(g) Vouchers submitted under this section shall specifically
set forth the nature of the service rendered, the stage of
proceeding or type of hearing involved, the date and place the
service was rendered and the amount of time expended in each
instance. All time claimed on the vouchers shall be itemized to
the nearest tenth of an hour. If the charge against the eligible
client for which services were rendered is one of several charges
involving multiple warrants or indictments, the voucher shall
indicate that fact and sufficiently identify the several charges so
as to enable the court to avoid a duplication of compensation for
services rendered. The executive director shall refuse to
requisition payment for any voucher which is not in conformity with
the record keeping, compensation or other provisions of this
article, or of the voucher instructions issued pursuant to section
six of this article and, in that circumstance, shall return the
voucher to the court or to the service provider for further review
or correction. The voucher instructions control all matters not
specifically covered in this article.
§29-21-16. Determination of maximum income levels; eligibility
guidelines; use of form affidavit; inquiry by court;
denial of services; repayment; limitation on
remedies against affiant.
(a) The agency shall establish and periodically review and
update financial guidelines for determining eligibility for legal representation made available under the provisions of this article.
The agency shall adopt a financial affidavit form for use by
persons seeking legal representation made available under the
provisions of this article.
(b) All persons seeking legal representation made available
under the provisions of this article shall complete the agency's
financial affidavit form, which shall be considered as an
application for the provision of publicly funded legal
representation.
(c) Any juvenile shall have the right to be effectively
represented by counsel at all stages of proceedings brought under
the provisions of article five, chapter forty-nine of this code.
If the child advises the court of his or her inability to pay for
counsel, the court shall require the child's parent or custodian to
execute a financial affidavit. If the financial affidavit
demonstrates that neither of the child's parents, or, if
applicable, the child's custodian, has sufficient assets to pay for
counsel, the court shall appoint counsel for the child. If the
financial affidavit demonstrates that either of the child's
parents, or, if applicable, the child's custodian, does have
sufficient assets to pay for counsel, the court shall order the
parent, or, if applicable, the custodian, to provide, by paying
for, legal representation for the child in the proceedings.
The court may disregard the assets of the child's parents or
custodian and appoint counsel for the child, as provided above, if
the court concludes, as a matter of law, that the child and the parent or custodian have a conflict of interest that would
adversely affect the child's right to effective representation of
counsel, or concludes, as a matter of law, that requiring the
child's parent or custodian to provide legal representation for the
child would otherwise jeopardize the best interests of the child.
(d) In circuits in which no public defender office is in
operation, circuit judges shall make all determinations of
eligibility. In circuits in which a public defender office is in
operation, all determinations of indigency shall be made by a
public defender office employee designated by the executive
director. Such determinations shall be made after a careful review
of the financial affidavit submitted by the person seeking
representation. The review of the affidavit shall be conducted in
accord with the financial eligibility guidelines established by the
agency pursuant to subsection (a) of this section. In addition to
the financial eligibility guidelines, the person determining
eligibility shall consider other relevant factors, including, but
not limited to, those set forth in subdivisions (1) through (9),
inclusive, subsection (e) of this section. If there is substantial
reason to doubt the accuracy of information in the financial
affidavit, the person determining eligibility may make such
inquiries as are necessary to determine whether the affiant has
truthfully and completely disclosed the required financial
information.
After reviewing all pertinent matters the person determining
eligibility may find the affiant to be eligible to have the total cost of legal representation provided by the state or may find that
the total cost of providing representation shall be apportioned
between the state and the eligible person. A person whose annual
income exceeds the maximum annual income level allowed for
eligibility may receive all or part of the necessary legal
representation, or a person whose income falls below the maximum
annual income level for eligibility may be denied all or part of
the necessary legal representation if the person determining
eligibility finds the person's particular circumstances require
that eligibility be allowed or disallowed, as the case may be, on
the basis of one or more of the nine factors set forth in
subsection (e) of this section. If legal representation is made
available to a person whose income exceeds the maximum annual
income level for eligibility, or if legal representation is denied
to a person whose income falls below the maximum annual income
level for eligibility, the person determining eligibility shall
make a written statement of the reasons for the action and shall
specifically relate those reasons to one or more of the factors set
forth in said subsection.
(e) The following factors shall be considered in determining
eligibility for legal representation made available under the
provisions of this article:
(1) Current income prospects, taking into account seasonal
variations in income;
(2) Liquid assets, assets which may provide collateral to
obtain funds to employ private counsel and other assets which may be liquidated to provide funds to employ private counsel;
(3) Fixed debts and obligations, including federal, state and
local taxes and medical expenses;
(4) Child care, transportation and other expenses necessary
for employment;
(5) Age or physical infirmity of resident family members;
(6) Whether the person seeking publicly funded legal
representation has made reasonable and diligent efforts to obtain
private legal representation and the results of those efforts;
(7) The cost of obtaining private legal representation with
respect to the particular matter in which assistance is sought;
(8) Whether the person seeking publicly funded legal
representation has posted a cash bond for bail or has obtained
release on bond for bail through the services of a professional
bondsman for compensation and the amount and source of the money
provided for such bond;
(9) The consequences for the individual if legal assistance is
denied.
(f) Legal representation requested by the affiant may not be
denied in whole or part unless the affiant can obtain legal
representation without undue financial hardship. Persons
determined to be ineligible by public defender personnel may have
the initial determination reviewed by a local circuit judge who may
amend, modify or rewrite the initial determination. At any stage
of the proceedings a circuit court may determine a prior finding of
eligibility was incorrect or has become incorrect as the result of the affiant's changed financial circumstances and may revoke any
prior order providing legal representation. In such event any
attorney previously appointed shall be entitled to compensation
under the provisions of law applicable to such appointment for
services already rendered.
(g) In the circumstances and manner set forth below, circuit
judges may order repayment to the state, through the office of the
clerk of the circuit court having jurisdiction over the
proceedings, of the costs of representation provided under this
article:
(1) In every case in which services are provided to an
indigent person and an adverse judgment has been rendered against
such person, the court may require that person, and in juvenile
cases, may require the juvenile's parents or custodian, to pay as
costs the compensation of appointed counsel, the expenses of the
defense and such other fees and costs as authorized by statute.
(2) The court shall not order a person to pay costs unless the
person is able to pay without undue hardship. In determining the
amount and method of repayment of costs, the court shall take
account of the financial resources of the person, the person's
ability to pay and the nature of the burden that payment of costs
will impose. The fact that the court initially determines, at the
time of a case's conclusion, that it is not proper to order the
repayment of costs does not preclude the court from subsequently
ordering repayment should the person's financial circumstances
change.
(3) When a person is ordered to repay costs, the court may
order payment to be made forthwith or within a specified period of
time or in specified installments. If a person is sentenced to a
term of imprisonment, an order for repayment of costs is not
enforceable during the period of imprisonment unless the court
expressly finds, at the time of sentencing, that the person has
sufficient assets to pay the amounts ordered to be paid or finds
there is a reasonable likelihood the person will acquire the
necessary assets in the foreseeable future.
(4) A person who has been ordered to repay costs, and who is
not in contumacious default in the payment thereof, may at any time
petition the sentencing court for modification of the repayment
order. If it appears to the satisfaction of the court that
continued payment of the amount ordered will impose undue hardship
on the person or the person's dependents, the court may modify the
method or amount of payment.
(5) When a person ordered to pay costs is also placed on
probation or imposition or execution of sentence is suspended, the
court may make the repayment of costs a condition of probation or
suspension of sentence.
(h) Circuit clerks shall keep a record of repaid counsel fees
and defense expenses collected pursuant to this section and shall,
quarterly, pay the moneys to the State Auditor who shall deposit
the funds in the general revenue fund of the state.
(i) The making of an affidavit subject to inquiry under this
section does not in any event give rise to criminal remedies against the affiant nor occasion any civil action against the
affiant except for the recovery of costs as in any other case where
costs may be recovered and the recovery of the value of services,
if any, provided pursuant to this article. A person who has made
an affidavit knowing the contents thereof to be false may be
prosecuted for false swearing as provided by law.
(j) In order to assure consistency of application, the Supreme
Court of Appeals shall by the first day of October, two thousand
six, establish uniform procedures and criteria to be used by
circuit judges in determining the circumstances under which the
judges shall order, pursuant to the provisions of this section,
repayment of the costs of representation provided under this
article.