The Collin County Observer

DMN - Collin County has cut spending on legal defense for the poor

01/27/08

03:19:21 am, by bill

, 372 words,

Categories: News Clippings, Indigent Defense

DMN - Collin County has cut spending on legal defense for the poor

Collin County has cut spending on legal defense for the poor
A defense expense is cut

12:00 AM CST on Saturday, January 26, 2008
By ED HOUSEWRIGHT / The Dallas Morning News

Collin County commissioners pride themselves on saving money.

The latest example involves indigent defense spending. Commissioners recently learned the county spent $800,000 less on lawyers for the poor last year than in 2006.

Expenditures dropped about 15 percent to $4 million, even though the number of cases rose 2.7 percent. Why has spending dropped? Commissioners say the poor aren't denied free representation. Instead, officials are more carefully screening defendants who claim to be indigent.

Commissioners began enforcing strict eligibility guidelines after indigent defense costs rose 31 percent between fiscal 2002 and fiscal 2005.

Now databases are used to verify defendants' income and assets. To be eligible for a court-appointed attorney, a defendant must have less than $2,500 in assets, not including the value of his or her primary care. The accused can't earn more than 125 percent of the federal poverty level. For a single person, that translates into a maximum annual income of $10,210.

"No one has complained about the new rules – at least not loudly. Poor people accused of crimes don't have much of a voice anyway."

The crackdown is paying off. In fiscal 2006, indigent defense costs fell 10 percent, records show.

Judges emphasize that even if a person doesn't meet the income or asset guidelines, he or she can be granted a lawyer. Judges say deserving people are not denied attorneys.

No one has complained about the new rules – at least not loudly. Poor people accused of crimes don't have much of a voice anyway.

The county also is cutting spending by reducing fees paid to court-appointed attorneys.

Attorneys have griped that the new fee structure isn't fair. They say they're working too hard for too little money.

But no one seems to be listening.

Link to Ed Housewright's column

Bill's Comments: This is the third year since the crackdown began on indigent defense costs, and the second year of declining expenses.

Click here for the county's data and analysis of indigent defense spending

The County's indigent defense policies:
Fair Defense Plan for Felony Cases
Fair Defense Plan for Misdemeanor Cases
Fair Defense Plan for Juvenile Cases
Collin County's indigent defense web page

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Comment from: Devin Axtman [Visitor]

Thanks for exposing this Bill. The commisoners ought to be ashamed of themselves. How can a person that makes a little over $10,000 afford an attorny. This is America and everyone deserves a fair trail regardless of money earned.

Permalink 01/27/08 @ 16:16

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The Collin County Observer

DMN - Collin County has cut spending on legal defense for the poor

01/27/08

DMN - Collin County has cut spending on legal defense for the poor

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