The constitutional right to a court-appointed attorney extends to those charged with crimes for which imprisonment is a possible penalty. “The office of public defender has no ability to turn the spigot off,” he told the House Judiciary Committee. Office of the State Public Defender Director Brett Schandelson said it’s unclear how the “experiment” would affect the agency. HB 402 would have tasked the Secretary of State’s office with writing rules to verify citizenship when someone registers to vote in Montana. Several GOP lawmakers objected to language that would have let people vote while their citizenship was still being verified.
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