On March 2, 2021, the Office of the Post-Conviction Defender, Choosing Justice Initiative, Bass, Barry & Sims, Knox Defense Law Firm, the Justice Initiative, and the Working Law Firm filed two petitions in the Tennessee Supreme Court to amend Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 13.

The first petition seeks to amend Rule 13, § 5(a)(1) and (d)(1). Section (a)(1) permits presiding courts to authorize expert or investigative services for indigent defendants and capital post-conviction petitioners, paid by the state, when proven necessary for the defense or to establish ground for relief in capital post-conviction proceedings. The AOC Director and Chief Justice vacate these orders when lower courts authorize services at rates that exceed the state caps because § 5(d)(1) does not permit rate cap exceptions – even if no expert is available or willing to provide services at rates below the market value. Read the full petition here.

The second petition seeks to amend Tenn. S. Ct. Rule 13 § 5(e)(4)-(5), which permits the AOC Director and Chief Justice to overrule lower courts’ orders authorizing expert or investigator funding for indigent defendants and capital post-conviction petitioners. This results in the denial of resources proven to be necessary to the indigent defendants’ or capital petitioners’ case. Read the full petition here.