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31.110   Persons  entitled  to  department  representation  and  services  --  Extent  of 
representation and services. 
(1)  A needy person who is being detained by a law enforcement officer, on suspicion of 
having committed, or who is under formal charge of having committed, or is being 
detained  under  a  conviction  of,  a  serious  crime,  or  who  is  accused  of  having 
committed a public or status offense or who has been committed to the Department 
of Juvenile Justice or Cabinet for Health and Family Services for having committed 
a public or status  offense as those are defined by KRS 610.010(1), 610.010(2)(a), 
(b), (c), or 630.020(2) is entitled: 
(a)  To be represented by an attorney to the same extent as a person having his or 
her own counsel is so entitled; and 
(b)  To  be  provided  with  the  necessary  services  and  facilities  of  representation 
including  investigation  and  other  preparation.  The  courts  in  which  the 
defendant is tried shall waive all costs. 
(2)  A needy person who is  entitled to  be represented by an attorney under subsection 
(1) of this section is entitled: 
(a)  To be counseled and defended at all stages of the matter beginning with the 
earliest time when a person providing his own counsel would be entitled to be 
represented by an attorney and including revocation of probation or parole; 
(b)  To be represented in any appeal; and 
(c)  To be represented in any other post-conviction, or, if a minor under the age of 
eighteen  (18),  post-disposition  proceeding  that  the  attorney  and  the  needy 
person considers appropriate. However, if the counsel appointed in such post-
conviction,  or,  if  a  minor  under  the  age  of  eighteen  (18),  post-disposition 
remedy, with the court involved, determines that it is not a proceeding that a 
reasonable person with adequate means would be willing to bring at his or her 
own  expense,  there  shall  be  no  further  right  to  be  represented  by  counsel 
under the provisions of this chapter. 
(3)  A needy person's right to a benefit under subsection (1) or (2) of this section is not 
affected by his or her having provided a similar benefit at his or her own expense, or 
by he or she having waived it, at an earlier stage. 
(4)  A person, whether a needy person or not, who is a minor under the age of eighteen 
(18) and who is in the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice and is residing 
in a residential treatment center or detention center is entitled to be represented on a 
legal claim related to his or her confinement involving violations of federal or state 
statutory rights or constitutional rights. 
Effective:  July 15, 2008 
History:  Amended 2008 Ky. Acts ch. 87, sec. 15, effective July 15, 2008. -- Amended 
2005 Ky. Acts ch. 99, sec. 101, effective June 20, 2005. -- Amended 2002 Ky. Acts 
ch. 283, sec. 11, effective July 15, 2002. -- Created 1972 Ky. Acts ch. 353, sec. 11.