defender situations or contract defender systems to be used in conjunction with a backup appointment method for case overload or conflict situations. However, several counties are using this to circumvent the Acts requirement for countywide indigent programs to be adopted by all the judiciary in the county working together as a whole. No System: 12% of the counties have submitted no plan by the time of this article, or intend to submit no plan. In several counties in the State of Texas, the judiciary and the county commissioners have taken the position that they are not going to submit a plan of any type. Many other counties are going to make a concerted attack at the next session of the legislature for repeal of the Texas Fair Defense Act. QUALIFICATIONS FOR APPOINTED COUNSEL AND FINANCIAL STANDARDS AND PROCEDURES FOR DETERMINING INDIGENCY I am not going to spend any time on these to issues, as the act spells out what the various plans must do. If you are interested in these two issues, I suggest you consult the Act itself. FEES AND EXPENSE FOR ATTORNEYS, EXPERTS AND INVESTIGATORS This is the area of extreme interest to each of us. The exact provisions of what and how we are to be paid are set forth in Article 26.05 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. Basically, it provides that an attorney appointed to represent a defendant in a criminal
defender situations or contract defender systems to be used in conjunction with a backup appointment method for case overload or conflict situations. However, several counties are using this to circumvent the Acts requirement for countywide indigent programs to be adopted by all the judiciary in the county working together as a whole. No System: 12% of the counties have submitted no plan by the time of this article, or intend to submit no plan. In several counties in the State of Texas, the judiciary and the county commissioners have taken the position that they are not going to submit a plan of any type. Many other counties are going to make a concerted attack at the next session of the legislature for repeal of the Texas Fair Defense Act. QUALIFICATIONS FOR APPOINTED COUNSEL AND FINANCIAL STANDARDS AND PROCEDURES FOR DETERMINING INDIGENCY I am not going to spend any time on these to issues, as the act spells out what the various plans must do. If you are interested in these two issues, I suggest you consult the Act itself. FEES AND EXPENSE FOR ATTORNEYS, EXPERTS AND INVESTIGATORS This is the area of extreme interest to each of us. The exact provisions of what and how we are to be paid are set forth in Article 26.05 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. Basically, it provides that an attorney appointed to represent a defendant in a criminal
Randy%20Wilson-2013%20RUSTY%20DUNCAN%20PRIMER%20FOR%20COURT%20APPOINTED%20ATTORNEYS%20Edited%20for%20Website.docx