Court-appointed counsel; compensation in district court for those defending juvenile offenders. (HB536)

Introduced By

Del. Chris Peace (R-Mechanicsville)

Progress

Introduced
Passed Committee
Passed House
Passed Senate
Signed by Governor
Became Law

Description

Compensation of court-appointed counsel; juvenile offenders. Provides that court-appointed counsel who are appointed to defend a juvenile in district court for an offense that would be a felony if committed by an adult may request a waiver on the compensation cap up to certain specified amounts depending on the charges being defended when the effort expended, the time reasonably necessary for the particular representation, the novelty and difficulty of the issues, or other circumstances warrant such a waiver. The maximum amounts of the waivers allowed are fixed at the level of the compensation cap for defending adults of the same crimes in circuit court. Read the Bill »

Outcome

Bill Has Failed

History

DateAction
01/07/2008Committee
01/07/2008Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/09/08 081068676
01/07/2008Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
01/16/2008Assigned Courts sub: Criminal
02/01/2008Impact statement from DPB (HB536)
02/01/2008Reported from Courts of Justice (22-Y 0-N) (see vote tally)
02/01/2008Referred to Committee on Appropriations
02/05/2008Assigned App. sub: General Government (Abbitt)
02/12/2008Left in Appropriations

Duplicate Bills

The following bills are identical to this one: SB610.

Comments

Neal Modi writes:

Why only apply this legislation to juvenile offenders? Virginia ranks last in the country in compensation for court-appointed attorneys representing indigent offenders. I believe our commonwealth should really re-examine our justice system, especially regarding public/court-appointed defenders. Should justice come at a price? The answer is no, therefore this bill should extend to all indigent offenders, not just juveniles.