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Consent-General Government # 10.
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| Board of Supervisors |
County Counsel |
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| Subject |
| Approve the recommended three-year contract for the Indigent Defense Conflict Panel for an annual amount of $843,640. (General fund impact $843,640) (Drivon) |
| Recommended Action |
- Approve the recommended three-year contract for the Indigent Defense Conflict Panel and authorize the Chair and County Counsel to execute any and all documents and process through the Auditor-Controller;
- Direct the CAO and Counsel to engage Requests for Proposals to review continued operations prior to the contract conclusion.
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| Strategic Plan Goal(s) |
| Preserve and ensure safe and crime free communities |
| Reason for Recommended Action/Background |
The Yolo County Conflict Panel was originally formed in 1979 by the County to insure adequate representation for persons whom the Public Defender had declined to service due to a conflict of interest. In such instances, the county must make other provisions for effective legal representation of these persons.
Since 1993, the county has contracted individually with local attorneys who comprise what has become known as the Conflict Indigent Defense Panel. J. Toney is the managing attorney of this Panel. From all reports, including that of the Court and independent consultants, this panel arrangement has worked exceedingly well. The county bears the cost of a considerable portion of the conflict defense but the Court also reimburses a significant share of the costs of juvenile dependency representation by the Panel members, which is a program cost borne by the courts. This also provided a significant savings over the previous fee-for-service model in which Judges appointed lawyers from a list of applicants.
The current panel consists of ten lawyers whose membership ranges from five to thirty-four years. Because they are independent contractors, the County has no employee expenses for Social Security, retirement, medical or other employee benefits. Also, all office expenses including insurance and administrative costs are borne by the attorney. Investigation and expert witness costs are paid by the attorney and reimbursed by the County. Occasionally, when a case is unusually long or complex, the Attorney may request additional funds which must be approved by the County.
The Panel covers the following areas:
1. Juvenile Dependency. The Public Defender has not taken these cases for several years. Typically, three lawyers from the Panel are on each case: one for the Father, one for the Mother, and one for the Child or Children. Sometimes more attorneys are needed – typically when there are different fathers for the children involved. The County is reimbursed for the first $320,000 spent for the lawyers in these matters by the State.
2. Adult Felony. Four lawyers are assigned to these cases on a rotation basis. In multiple defendant cases, one additional panel member is appointed. Note: Due to changes in the court, especially the reduction of drug court hours, the Panel will now take an extra level of representation in all felony, dependency and delinquency cases. The new proposal will add a sixth lawyer when needed. This means that in the absence of conflicts, the County will have coverage for seven defendants in any felony case. Two lawyers split these cases with a third available for appointment when needed. Additionally, one of these lawyers handles misdemeanor appeals from Public Defender cases.
3. Juvenile Delinquency. Two felony attorneys also take these cases. Under the new proposal, two other lawyers will be available for multiple juvenile incidents.
4. Drug & Mental Health Court. Drug Court has been greatly reduced. A new Mental Health court is being introduced. These changes allow the panel to cover more levels of representation in the main areas of its duties.
5. Miscellaneous. Other cases such as guardianships, adoptions and conservatorships are taken by Dependency attorneys when needed.
Compensation varies due to different requirements. Dependency lawyers are paid more because their contract time precludes most private practice. Two of the felony lawyers are also compensated for Delinquency cases. The rest are paid at the base rate.
Statistics of cases taken and hours spent are submitted each month to the County Counsel. Without including the amount the State reimburses the County for juvenile case representation which averages $27,000/month, the total ten attorney panel cost is approximately $97,000/month. Panel hours for the last calendar year averaged 480 hours per month for dependency and 1,000 hours per month for all other cases.
The average hourly compensation for all cases – excluding reimbursement – is $47.50/hour.
In view of the County budget concerns, the recommendation proposes continuing the present compensation schedule for the fiscal year 2013-2014 with three percent increases over the next two years. As always, any party can terminate a contract on sixty (60) days notice. An independent review of continued operations prior to the conclusion of this contract will allow for an evidence-based solution for future service delivery.
The 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 increases of the proposed agreements are necessary due to the number of cases, length of cases, and complexity of cases being handled by the Conflicts Panel. It is important to note that due to the current cooperation amongst attorneys providing services to indigents of the county, it is seldom necessary to go outside the Panel agreements in order to effect day-to-day representations.
County staff will continue to provide indigent defense contract services and oversight. |
| Other Agency Involvement |
| County Administrator's Office and Attorney J. Toney, Conflict Panel Administrator |
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| Fiscal Impact |
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| Source of Funds for this Expenditure |
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Explanation (Expenditure and/or Revenue) |
| Further explanation as needed: |
The cost of the current fiscal year 2012-2013 contract is $843,640. There is no increase for the first year of the recommended contract (2013-14).
* Future year's growth will be the base year amount plus a three percent increase as follows:
FY 2014-2015: $868,950. (3 %Increase of $25,310)
FY 2015-2016: $985,020. (3% increase of $26,070) |
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