To: Board of Supervisors
From: County Administrative Office
Agenda Section: Consent
SUBJECT:
title
Rate Schedule Adjustment for Court-Appointed Attorneys
end
RECOMMENDATION(S):
Recommendation
That the Board of Supervisors:
1. Approve the adjusted schedule of rates for court-appointed attorneys representing indigent defendants in the Humboldt County Superior Court, effective immediately;
2. Authorize the County Administrative Officer, County Counsel and Humboldt County Court Executive Officer, or designees thereof, to serve as the committee to oversee the Humboldt County Court-Appointed Attorney Program and carry out the duties described in the rate schedule (Attachment 1);
3. Delegate authority to the above committee to establish criteria for attorney classes described in the rate schedule; and
4. Authorize the Committee to modify the agreement (Attachment 3) with approval from Risk Management and County Counsel.
Body
SOURCE OF FUNDING:
General Fund
DISCUSSION:
The Humboldt County Superior Courts have recently been experiencing difficulties when trying to find attorneys to appoint to represent indigent defendants. These attorneys represent clients when defendants' cases cannot be handled by either the Humboldt County Public Defender or Conflict Counsel, primarily due to conflicts of interest. Currently, these court-appointed attorneys receive a flat hourly rate of $65 per hour, regardless of case, to perform these services. This hourly rate is lower than most counties in the state, leading to fewer attorneys being willing to accept these local appointments.
The recommendation to update the schedule of rates is aimed at bringing Humboldt County's pay rate for court-appointed attorneys more in-line with other similar counties. Several other similar counties that staff analyzed pay between $75 to $100 per hour, depending on case type and attorney qualifications.
The proposed schedule of rates would allow court-appointed attorneys to char...
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