id	author	title	date	pages	extension	mime	words	sentence	flesch	summary	cache	txt
inlawrev-22385	Bethke, James D.; Shell, Morgan	Public Defense Innovation in Texas	2018	33	.pdf	application/pdf	14434	949	58	The Act mandates funding for Texas’s 254 counties and oversight of their indigent defense systems, but leaves the specifics of “how to” satisfy the core requirements with each respective local county.16 A key component of the Act was the creation of the Task Force on Indigent Defense (“Task Force”), a permanent standing committee of the Texas Judicial Council.17 In 2011, the Task Force was renamed the Texas Indigent Defense Commission (“TIDC”) pursuant to House Bill 1754 signed by Governor Rick Perry.18 Under the leadership of TIDC Chair, the Honorable Sharon Keller, Presiding Judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, TIDC and its staff of eleven distributes funds to counties, monitors their compliance with state and constitutional requirements, provides counties technical support, and develops Texas indigent defense policies.19 In a nutshell, TIDC helps counties develop indigent defense programs that are compliant with the constitutionally mandated standards.20 Former Texas State Senator Rodney Ellis, sponsor of the FDA, attributes the Act’s success to, among other factors, mandated standards and discretionary grants that incentivize counties to improve indigent defense services.21 10. ”199 TIDC ultimately made funding mental health programs a priority.	cache/inlawrev-22385.pdf	txt/inlawrev-22385.txt