Art. 953 Authority of office of the district public defender in emergency sessions of court

When a court has to hold emergency sessions somewhere outside its normal parish because of a disaster or other emergency, the public defender's office from that original court still has the power to appoint lawyers for defendants who can't afford one. This means the same public defender's office keeps control over these appointments even though the court is temporarily meeting in a different location.

The public defender can pick attorneys from either the home parish (where the court normally sits) or the host parish (where the emergency sessions are actually happening). This gives the public defender's office flexibility to find available lawyers no matter where the emergency court session takes place, so defendants still get proper legal representation even during a disruption like a hurricane or other emergency that forces the court to relocate temporarily.