The Judges of each Division shall determine if a defendant is indigent. If the defendant is found to be indigent, the Court shall appoint a Public Defender to represent the defendant.

In cases of multiple defendants, the Court will hold a hearing to determine if the Public Defender can represent each defendant and each defendant will execute a waiver of appointment of a special attorney.. If there appears to be a conflict of interest at any stage prior to trial, the Court can take the following steps:

Appoint a member of the Boyd County Bar from a panel constituted in the following manner:

Each year, members of the Boyd County Bar Association desiring to participate in the private public defender program will submit written notification of that interest to the Chief Judge of the Boyd Circuit Court The Chief Judge, after consideration of each applicant's qualifications, will approve and appoint a panel of attorneys to participate in the program. The number of attorneys selected shall be solely within the discretion of the Court after due consideration for the Court's criminal docket and the number of conflict cases which, in the Court's experience, arise from time to time. The Chief Judge shall enter an Order approving the applicants and formally establishing the panel. A copy of the Order shall be filed with the Clerk of the Boyd Circuit Court and copies shall be made available to all Judges of both the Boyd Circuit Court and Boyd District Court for appointment purposes.