Via press release on February 26, 2024, the Commission commemorated the inaugural meeting of the Indigent Defense Advisory Committee, held in Harrisburg on February 12, 2024. The Committee, of which Interbranch Commission Executive Director Maraleen Shields is a non-voting member, was established within the PA Commission on Crime and Delinquency (“PCCD”) by Act 34 of 2023. It is tasked with developing statewide standards for the provision of indigent defense services in Pennsylvania. Its mission is also to disperse funds from Act 34’s legislative allotment of $7.5 million to judicial districts across the Commonwealth working to improve these services.
Through the efforts of the Advisory Committee and other stakeholders, Pennsylvania will, for the first time, supplement individual county expenditures on indigent defense with state-based funding.