The Collin County Observer

INDIGENT: A new report from the NYU School of Law calls for stricter indigent defense determination guidelines, which Collin County judges say they have already met.

By Danny Gallagher, McKinney Courier-Gazette
Monday, September 29, 2008

The line for indigence eligibility isn’t as simple as just drawing one.

“I agree that there is a huge problem with indigent defense in that it is a very subjective process,” Collin County Justice of the Peace for Precinct 1 Judge Paul Raleeh said. “If the guidelines that are used are from the federal poverty rate guidelines, so somebody there who is in fact indigent and should get legal counsel, but it doesn’t address those who don’t fit poverty guidelines but who still have car and house payments and raise four kids but has no money left over to take their husband to a movie let alone hire an attorney.”

A new report compiled and published earlier this month by the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law mentions Collin County as an example of a court system that “explicitly require screeners to view the non-liquid assets of potential clients as available to pay for counsel” citing a financial consideration in the county’s fair defense plan for felony cases that defendants with assets of $2,500 or higher are not consider indigent from a story published by the Dallas Morning News back in 2007.

Collin County judges said that their indigence screening process goes much deeper than just a single financial observation.

“I know in Collin County that we have never had denied anybody counsel that we know of that should have had counsel,” 366th District Court Judge Greg Brewer said.

Collin County defendants requesting indigent status must apply for it through an indigent defense coordinator. Defendants fill out a form listing several criteria including their personal background, occupational information and financial history, according to the county’s fair defense plan.

The coordinator determines if they are indigent based on guidelines set in place by Texas Senate Bill 7 approved in 2001, Brewer said.

“The indigent defense coordinator gets the information and makes sure they fall within the guidelines to get an attorney,” Brewer said. “If they are deemed eligible, they get an attorney and if they aren’t, then they are denied. The policy says if they sit in the jail for 14 days, then we can review it again to make a determination if they should get an attorney.”

A judicial review consisting of Raleeh, JP Precinct 3-2 Judge John Payton and County Court at Law No. 2 Judge Jerry Lewis hear the application again and serves as the “final say” on a defendant’s indigent status, Raleeh said.

“If somebody is just barely on the line of whether they are indigent or not but it’s a crime so heinous that we feel they need to have legal representation, let’s err on the side of the defendant and make sure they get their legal representation,” Raleeh said. “That rarely happens.”

The coordinator and the judicial review can not factor in whether the defendant posted their bail, the assets’ of the defendant’s friends or relatives or the employment status of the defendant as required by state law. They can also consider factors such as food stamp allocation, ongoing incarceration and eligibility of state or federal health benefits such as Medicaid, public housing or indigent health care, according to the county’s fair defense plan.

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Bill notes:

I don't think the situation is as easy or as fair as Mr. Gallagher presents, but I wanted to present the county's side of the story.

From what I've seen, too many defendants are in court without an attorney, and too many are forced to plea bargain either without an lawyer or because they can't afford one.

The criteria for claiming indigency are entirely too severe. Owning a 3 year old Kia can keep you from getting a court appointed lawyer. Prisoners are handed long intimidating forms, and I've heard stories that they've been told that if one thing is untrue, they will be prosecuted for perjury.

See Collin County has cut spending on legal defense for the poor - by Ed Housewright of the DMN, Jan. 27, 2008

Also see Collin cuts court costs, but at what price? by Ed Housewright of the DMN, Aug.4, 2007

Bill