Criminal procedure: indigent defense compensation

The law aims to prevent payment arrangements that can discourage thorough defense work and to ensure appointed lawyers have time and resources to represent people who cannot afford counsel.

What the law does ​

• Requires county and court indigent-defense contracts to account for workload standards, attorneys’ other professional duties, and specified public-defense workload studies.
• Requires contracts to fund attorney fees separately from case-related services such as investigators, social workers, and immigration counsel.
• Bars flat-fee and per-case contracts in death-penalty or potential life-without-parole cases.
• Requires contracts to let providers seek payment changes when caseloads or representation costs exceed what the parties anticipated.
• Requires counties using private entities or law firms for indigent defense to submit their contracts to the Office of the State Public Defender every two years beginning January 1, 2028.

Who it affects ​

• People accused of crimes who cannot afford an attorney.
• Counties, courts, private indigent-defense providers, law firms, and appointed criminal-defense attorneys.

Context ​

The requirements apply to indigent-defense requests for proposals and to new, amended, extended, or renewed agreements entered into on or after January 1, 2028.