Maintain Funding for Effective Indigent Defense Delivery Models
The 78th Texas State Legislature amended Section 81.054 of the Government Code to require attorneys to pay the previously voluntary $65 annual Legal Services Fee to fund effective indigent defense delivery models. The funding generated by the Legal Services Fee has allowed Texas to improve the quality of indigent defense services by establishing new indigent defense delivery models. With the resources created by the Legal Services Fee, the Task Force on Indigent Defense[i] approved funding for adult public defender offices in Kaufman, Willacy, and Hidalgo Counties. In addition, the Task Force approved funding to establish several model programs that target special populations; for example, the regional public defender office centered in Val Verde County will allow indigent defendants in Edwards, Terrell, and Kinney Counties (small, rural counties) to access their right to a lawyer, despite the lack of qualified defense lawyers in their communities. Additionally, Travis County will establish the nation’s first stand-alone public defender office exclusively representing defendants who are mentally ill. Each new public defender office established because of resources made available through the Legal Services Fee represents a model that county leaders can look to as they consider solutions to meet the demand for improved indigent defense systems in their own areas.
While performance data produced by the state’s long-standing public defender programs demonstrate cost and quality benefits for counties that use public defenders[ii], these newest public defender offices will need continued support in order to ensure long-term success. The availability of Legal Services Fee resources is a significant factor for these counties and others that may be considering a public defender office. Unless the Legislature removes the sunset provision for the Legal Services Fee, it will expire on September 1, 2007. Depriving the state of this vital funding source will curtail recent advancements to establish effective indigent defense delivery models.
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[i] The Task Force on Indigent Defense was established by the 77th Legislature to: 1) provide technical support to assist counties in improving their indigent defense systems; 2) direct the comptroller to distribute funds, including grants, to counties to provide indigent defense services in the county; 3) monitor each county that receives a grant and enforce compliance by the county with the conditions of the grant; 4) develop policies and standards for providing legal representation and other defense services to indigent defendants at trial, on appeal, and in post-conviction proceedings; and 5) develop a plan that establishes statewide requirements for counties relating to reporting indigent defense information.
[ii] “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.