Bill > S1510

This bill makes several changes to Florida law regarding capital collateral proceedings, which are legal actions taken after a person has been convicted and sentenced to death to challenge the legality of that judgment and sentence. Primarily, it eliminates a pilot program that used attorneys from a registry to handle these cases in the northern region of the state, meaning those responsibilities will now be handled by the established capital collateral regional counsel. The bill also transfers certain administrative duties related to contracts for court-appointed attorneys in these cases from the Chief Financial Officer to the Justice Administrative Commission, a state agency that provides administrative support for the justice system. Additionally, it updates reporting requirements for capital collateral regional counsel to include the Justice Administrative Commission and makes minor technical changes to language concerning attorney fees and costs.