SECTION 174.27. Risk Assessment

(a) A risk assessment of each county shall be conducted by the policy monitoring team each fiscal year as the primary means of determining which counties will be selected for on-site policy monitoring. On-site monitoring visits to counties shall then be apportioned by administrative judicial region, county size, risk assessment scores, past visits, and other documented factors. The risk assessment shall use a variety of factors related to the provision of indigent defense services, including but not limited to the following:

(1) Investigation and expert witness expenses;

(2) Reimbursements for attorney fees;

(3) Per capita indigent defense expenses;

(4) Felony, misdemeanor, and juvenile attorney appointment rates;

(5) County population;

(6) Complaints about a county received by the Commission;

(7) Receipt of a TIDC improvement grant;

(8) Requests for counsel during magistrate warnings under Article 15.17, Code of Criminal Procedure; and

(9) Appellate cases.

(b) Counties may receive monitoring visits as a result of factors outside of the risk assessment, including findings from a previous visit, a complaint, media reports, or a request from an elected state or local official. If Commission staff make a drop-in visit, fiscal monitoring review, or grant program review and determine that violations of the Fair Defense Act or Commission rules may be present in a county, the monitor may conduct a monitoring visit of the county's procedures.

Source Note: The provisions of this §174.27 adopted to be effective September 23, 2015, 40 TexReg 6349; amended to be effective April 13, 2020, 45 TexReg 2409