« Ind. Law - Golf cart issues featured in story today | Main | Ind. Decisions - "Legal Win for Indiana Faculty Who Aren’t Renewed" »
Monday, June 23, 2008
Ind. Courts - Indy public defender wants clients to pay their fees
Jon Murray of the Indianapolis Star reports today that few defendants in Marion County actually pay the standard public defendant fee of $50 for misdemeanor cases and $100 for felony cases:
Public defenders took on more than 29,000 cases last year. The county typically collects less than $200,000 in fees each year.Presiding Judge Gerald Zore said the court's executive committee has given its support to Hill.
[Chief Public Defender Robert Hill] is asking judges to order payment of the fee more uniformly and to set a quick deadline for payment at the clerk's office. That could require judges to check on payment at a case's next hearing, which could be among 40 or 50 during a court session. * * *
In a letter to the court's executive committee in April, [David] Cook said better consistency and enforcement could boost fee collection to nearly $1 million. The figure is based on the assumption that 60 percent of those with some financial means would pay the fees.
One impetus for the push is a request from Mayor Greg Ballard's administration that city and county agencies slash their budgets by 5 percent this year.
For Hill's agency, that means $954,000. That would be impossible, Hill said, without curbing service and jeopardizing millions of dollars in reimbursements given by the state.
Hill's chief counsel, Ann Sutton, has given judges sample orders and forms to help determine a defendant's ability to pay and to order prompt payment of fees.
In some cases, judges could ask public defenders to total their hours and expenses, and then order partial reimbursement of costs based on a defendant's ability to pay. Both types of fees are allowed by Indiana law.
Welch and a few other judges said they were willing to consider changes but were waiting to hear more about Hill's suggestions.
Cracking down on fees draws support from many private attorneys, who say lax screening hurts their business by allowing too many defendants to get public defenders. * * *
Some counties with public defender agencies have more success collecting fees, said Larry Landis, executive director of the Indiana Public Defender Council.
Vanderburgh County, home to Evansville, collected nearly as much as Marion County in 2006, despite having one-fifth the population. But some others were less successful.
One key difference, according to Landis: Vanderburgh and several other counties use only cash bonds, which allow defendants to be freed while awaiting trial by paying 10 percent of their bail. The county holds the money and can use it to pay outstanding fees before returning the remainder.
Marion County uses surety bonds for many cases, and bail bondsmen keep the 10 percent paid by the defendant.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 23, 2008 10:11 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts