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The court's policy memorandum (approved by William D. Quan, Presiding Judge; issued May 22, 2005 and revised May 17, 2022) establishing criteria and a list for court appointed indigent defense counsel: the minimum criminal practice, trial and other experience for each type of case (misdemeanors, PC 1170(h) felonies, serious or violent felonies, homicide or life cases, death penalty cases per CRC 4.117(d) and (e), appellate counsel, juvenile delinquency and dependency, and conservatorship, Family Code 3150 and guardian ad litem appointments); appointment in three levels (the Public Defender, then overflow flat rate and hourly contract attorneys); the approved appointment list and its rotation; and the requirements for listed attorneys (applications and resumes submitted to the Office of County Counsel, stand-ins for special appearances under Penal Code Section 987.2, contact details, and availability within 48 hours of appointment).
California > Fourth Appellate District > Imperial County > Superior Court of California, County of Imperial
Superior Court Of California County Of Imperial Policy Memorandum Date Issued: May 22, 2005 Revised: July 20, 2007 Revised: January 15, 2013 Revised: May 17, 2022 Page 1 OF 2 Subject: Criteria for Court Appointment of Indigent Defense Counsel Approved by: William D. Quan, Presiding Judge Purpose: To establish criteria and a list for court appointed indigent defense counsel in cases pending before the courts and to implement a process for the ongoing review of court appointment lists. Policy: The following minimum experience is established for any attorney seeking appointment. TYPE OF CASE MINIMUM EXPERIENCE TRIAL EXPERIENCE OTHER EXPERIENCE REQUIRED Misdemeanors 6 months criminal practice None PC 1170(h) Felonies 2 years criminal practice with one letter of recommendation At least 3 misdemeanor jury trials to completion Serious or Violent Felony 3 years criminal practice with one letter of recommendation 3 misdemeanor trials and 3 felony jury trials to completion Homicide or life case 5 years criminal practice with one letter of recommendation 3 misdemeanor trials; 3 felony jury trials and 3 Serious or Violent jury trials to completion Homicide seminar Death Penalty 10 years criminal practice Per CRC 4.117(d) Associate Counsel for Death Penalty 3 years criminal practice Per CRC 4.117(e) Appellate Counsel 3 years civil and general practice Subject matter expertise (i.e. misdemeanor, writs, habeas corpus, etc) Juvenile Delinquency 1 year of criminal and juvenile delinquency practice At least 6 months of specialized 602 representation Juvenile Dependency 6 months of general practice Local Rule 14.07 Conservatorship/3150 FC/Guardian Ad-Litem 2 years of general practice Subject matter expertise (Family, Dependency, probate) Appointment Overview: Counsel for indigent defense will be appointed by the Court generally in the following manner: a) Level 1: appointment of Public Defender. b) Level 2: appointment of overflow flat rate contract attorneys. c) Level 3: appointment of overflow hourly contract attorneys. County to make best effort to maintain at least 10 qualified attorneys. Court appointments for Level 2 and 3 will be made from the approved Court Indigent Defense Counsel Appointment List, who are approved by the court on a rotating basis at the sole discretion of the Judicial Officer. Attorney may be removed from appointment list with or without cause at any time. Currently approved attorney list for appointments will be posted on the websites for the County of Imperial and the court (www.imperial.courts.ca.gov and www.co.imperial.ca.us ). Other Requirements and Criteria: 1. All attorneys approved to be included on the Level 2 and Level 3 appointment list shall agree to follow these rules. 2. Attorneys shall submit an application to be added to the appointment list and shall submit with their application to be added to the appointment list with a current résumé to the Office of County Counsel. 3. Attorneys seeking Court appointment must submit an updated résumé describing total years of experience by type of litigation; number and type of trials completed; and mandatory continuing education courses completed over the last 3 years. 4. The Court will review and consider all applications and résumés submitted by counsel for inclusion to the attorney appointment lists on an as-needed basis, provided all requirements have been met. 5. Effective immediately, Court appointed counsel pursuant to Penal Code Section 987.2 may have another attorney stand-in for him/her to make special appearances for brief or non-substantive matters due to unavailability if the attorney is qualified for that level of case. Delegation or subcontracting of a case previously assigned to an individual attorney will not be authorized. 6. All level two and 3 attorneys appointed by the court are required to provide the court with a contact phone number and e-mail so that attorney will receive notice of appointment. 7. All level 2 and 3 attorneys will be available for court appearance within 48 hours of appointment on the appointing courts regular calendar. Revised – May 2022
Superior Court Of California County Of Imperial Policy Memorandum Date Issued: May 22, 2005 Revised: July 20, 2007 Revised: January 15, 2013 Revised: May 17, 2022 Page 1 OF 2 Subject: Criteria for Court Appointment of Indigent Defense Counsel Approved by: William D. Quan, Presiding Judge Purpose: To establish criteria and a list for court appointed indigent defense counsel in cases pending before
Reviewer note: Composed 2026-10-07 (California T4 Imperial build 2026-10-07) from BenchPath custody ca/t4/ca-imperial/docs/general/criteria-court-apptd-counsel-may-2022.pdf (164760 bytes, sha256 634cdb6e5f4de6e43f2d1d65e0874307fd7b63d147bad17fba6302db4ed98a73; 2 pages) with the shared verbatim composer (v2 reflow): page marks and running headers or footers removed as chrome (a running footer kept once); lines reflowed into the document's paragraphs; proof 1 (whitespace-only) and proof 2 (same character multiset as the text layer minus chrome) pass. Documented settings (whitespace-only changes; the proofs hold): ruled tables set one row per line; 1 whitespace-only fix read on the page. Review note: The experience table refers juvenile dependency counsel to “Local Rule 14.07”; the Local Rules effective July 1, 2026 set attorney competency for juvenile dependency in Chapter 6 (Rules 6.1.2 and 6.1.3) and contain no Rule 14.07. A review task asks the court to confirm the reference.
6 verbatim requirements on divisional requirements in GIUSEPPINA MIRANDA's division.
4 verbatim requirements on divisional requirements in HILARY CREARY's division.
2 verbatim requirements on divisional requirements in NATASHA DEPRIMO's division.