Court Appointed Hourly Rate Comparison

What do counties that are about the same size as Bell County pay their court-appointed attorneys?  That was the question that led to this chart:

The population data came from the U.S. Census Bureau. It represents the estimated population of the listed Texas counties as of July 1, 2007.

The rest of the data came from the Task Force on Indigent Defense Website. According to the fee schedules listed there, the following details what local court appointed attorneys are paid:

WILLIAMSON COUNTY:
Except for good cause shown, court-appointed attorney fees will be as follows:
Routine felony plea = $500
Routine felony plea (Spanish-speaking defendant) = $750
Jury trial (per day) = $1,000
Jury trial (per day) (Spanish-speaking defendant) = $1,250

NUECES COUNTY:
Guilty plea, plea of true, or dismissal by Defendant = $250-$450
Dismissal on State’s motion = $100 to $400
Nonjury trial = $60-$80 per hour in court / $30-$60 per hour out of court
Jury trial = $500-$750 per full day, $250-$375 per half day, in court; $30-$50 out of court

BRAZORIA COUNTY:
Guilty plea = $100 minimum
Everything else = $60 – $90 per hour

GALVESTON COUNTY:
$60 per hour

LUBBOCK COUNTY:
$75 per hour; with minimum of $300 per plea

JEFFERSON COUNTY:
Public defenders maxed at $8333 per month (appointed on a monthly basis)
Rotation attorneys paid $500 per half-day in trial or contested hearings
$1,000 per plea/dismissal of single case
$1,200 per plea/dismissal of multiple cases for same defendant

WEBB COUNTY:
$85 per hour on SJF/3rd in trial / $75 per hour hearings / $50 per hour out of court
$100 per hour on 2nd in trial / $85 per hour hearings / $60 per hour out of court
$125 per hour on 1st in trial / $100 per hour hearings / $75 per hour out of court
Flat fee for plea: $500 SJF/3rd; $750 2nd; $1,000 1st

McLENNAN COUNTY:
$40-100 per hour in court; $35-$75 per hour out of court
Flat fee for plea: $400 SJF/3rd; $500 2nd; $750 1st

The precise nature of Bell County bail

An article which appeared today in the Temple Daily Telegram once again brings up the issue of artificially high Bell County bail amounts (“Setting bail not a precise procedure,” by Paul A. Romer, October 5, 2008). Yet again Judge Ted Duffield defends his practice of magistrating defendants with pre-set bail amounts without making any determination as to the ability of an individual defendant to make bail.

Not once in the article, though, did it mention that Judge Duffield inquired as to an accused’s financial situation and whether or not that defendant could make any particular bail amount. No, on the contrary, he apparently continues to set bail amounts according to the usual preset bail schedule without any regard to his legal duty to see that a bail is not oppressively high and without any regard to the ability of the accused to make bail.

County Commission Richard Cortese said the public does not care about bail amounts. He claims that “defense attorneys and family members of the person arrested are the people who usually get upset and complain about high bail amounts.” He then continues by stating that the victims of crime generally believe bail amounts are too low. “They want the person who broke into their house to stay behind bars,” he said. Wow! An elected official that has never heard of the presumption of innocence. Innocent until proven guilty? Not in Bell County! Are there any constitutional rights that can survive in Bell County?

Setting bail in Bell County is a precise procedure, the only problem is that it is precisely wrong.