§ 22-4502 Procedure to obtain services for representation before appearance.

If someone is arrested and can't afford a lawyer, the police need to follow specific steps to get that person a lawyer even before they go to court for the first time. This rule says that the state board in charge of public defense sets those steps through official rules.

In practice, this means police departments have a clear process to follow when a person in custody needs a lawyer right away. The goal is to make sure people who can't pay for a lawyer still get legal help early on, not just once they're standing in front of a judge. The actual details of how this works, like who to call or what forms to use, come from the board's specific regulations rather than from this rule itself.