The Senate Budget and Tax Committee has concurred with the House Appropriations Committee to continue to require county governments to pay any cost-overruns for appointed attorneys providing representation to indigent defendants at an initial appearance before a District Court Commissioner.

As in FY 15, the General Assembly has earmarked $10 million in the Judiciary’s budget in FY 16 to continue implementation of the appointed attorney program to comply with the court of appeals ruling in DeWolfe v. Richmond. County governments must pay for any costs exceeding the $10 million. This amendment was adopted as part of HB 70, the Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act of 2015.

The language can be found in the Report of the House Appropriations Committee – Recommendations, Reductions and Summary of Action Pertaining to HB 70 (Budget Bill FY 2016), Amendment 5 and 6 on  pages 21 and 22.

Previous coverage on Conduit Street.