Charlottesville Daily Progress

Public defenders see funding hike as positive step

By Liesel Nowak
lnowak@dailyprogress.com | 978-7274
Sunday, May 6, 2007

Ranked dead last in the nation for compensation for court-appointed attorneys, Virginia has a long way to go in improving its indigent defense system.

But lawyers defending poor people in court have seen improvements this year, and advocates believe the strides are a sign of good things to come.

“This was a banner year for indigent defense,” said Jim Hingeley, local public defender and chairman of the Virginia Fair Trial Project, which seeks to educate the public about what it considers the under-funding of the state’s indigent defense system.

Hingeley is referring to $8.2 million the General Assembly approved that will allow lawyers to apply for a waiver to caps on their fees.

Though the state provided $90 an hour to court-appointed lawyers, caps prevented them from collecting the wage on the work done. Attorneys for juveniles and adult clients charged with misdemeanors could receive, at most, $120, regardless of how much work they put into the case.

Likewise, for felonies that can result in a sentence of less than 20 years, the lawyers maxed out at $445, and for crimes punishable by 20 years or more, to $1,235.

The changes allow lawyers to apply for a second waiver if necessary.

The recently approved increase should pay for fee waivers in about 25 percent of the cases, Hingeley said in a report to the Citizens Advisory Committee for the Public Defender’s Office.

“This is a step down the road to probably getting rid of the fee caps forever,” Hingeley said, adding that there is more work to do, but Virginia is on its way to shedding its poor showing in terms of court-appointed reimbursement.

Betsy Wells Edwards, director of the Virginia Fair Trial Project, is already prepping for the 2008 General Assembly session, in which lawmakers will consider a biennial budget.

“No. 1 is more money,” Edwards said of future requests. “Based on our calculations, $8.2 million won’t be enough.”

Edwards’ organization is also working to increase pay for lawyers representing children charged in juvenile court with crimes that are the equivalent of felonies in the adult system.

Currently, those cases garner the same pay as misdemeanor cases.

“We’re uncovering the numbers right now with the help of the Department of Juvenile Justice,” Edwards said. “I think we stand a great chance. I think one of the reasons why we were so successful this year was because of Gov. [Timothy M.] Kaine … and Attorney General Bob McDonnell. And the General Assembly is coming around.”

Edwards noted that in the past three sessions, the legislature has approved $16.9 million toward court-appointed fees.

“$17 million is my idea of legislative support,” she said.

Del. David J. Toscano, D-Charlottesville, who is on the House Courts of Justice Committee, said he is “100 percent” behind the indigent defense efforts.

Hingeley praised state lawmakers for approving a significant pay raise for public defenders.

In addition to a 4 percent raise for all state employees, public defenders will receive an additional 9 percent.

The 13 percent overall pay hike will mean the starting salary for an entry-level defender will increase from $42,640 to $48,183. The salary of a more experienced defender will increase from $48,880 to $55,234 and the salary for a deputy defender will rise from $64,480 to $72,862.

The raises go into effect in November.

“On the public defender side, this was an extraordinary year,” Hingeley said.