Indigent Defense Spending Key Findings:
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In 2002, Texas ranked 44th in the nation for state spending on indigent defense[i], contributing less than 9 cents for every dollar needed.
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Individual counties shoulder over 90% of the costs related to meeting the constitutional requirement to provide indigent defense services. In 2005 alone, individual Texas counties spent over $140 million on indigent defense, while the State of Texas provided less than $13 million to defray the cost to counties.[ii]
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In contrast, 25 other states provide 100% of funding for indigent defense.[i]
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Before the 78th Legislature mandated that the Legal Services Fee subsidize effective delivery models, Texas only had 5 adult public defender offices. Following the mandate, Texas has established adult public defender offices in 5 additional counties.
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A recent Task Force on Indigent Defense study demonstrates that Texas’ public defender offices provide a more cost-effective model than the assigned counsel delivery model still used by most Texas counties, projecting a cost savings of $13.7 million if mature public defender offices were available in all Texas counties.[iii]
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The Task Force study also shows that public defender offices in Texas have demonstrated a higher degree of control over case quality to ensure the effective and efficient delivery of legal services to indigent clients.
[i] “State and County Expenditures for Indigent Defense Services in Fiscal Year 2002.” American Bar Association. September 2003. Pages 34-35. http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/downloads/sclaid/indigentdefense/indigentdefexpend2003.pdf.
[ii] “ID Expenditure Report.” Texas Task Force on Indigent Defense. December 2006 http://tfid.tamu.edu/Public.
[iii] “Evidence for the Feasibility of Public Defender Offices in Texas.” Task Force on Indigent Defense. November 2006. Page 14. http://www.courts.state.tx.us/oca/tfid/PD%20Feasibility_Final.pdf.