DATE: June 10, 2025
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Paul Nerland, County Administrative Officer
SUBJECT: Budget Resolutions for Public Defender Org 2880 and Alternate Indigent Defense Org 2875
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
1. Adopt Budget Resolution decreasing FY 2024-25 appropriations for Public Defender Org 2880 in the amount of $200,000 (4/5 vote);
2. Adopt Budget Resolution increasing FY 2024-25 appropriations for Alternate Indigent Defense Org 2875 in the amount of $200,000 (4/5 vote); and
3. Adopt Budget Resolution increasing the FY 2024-25 appropriations and estimated revenues for Alternate Indigent Defense Org 2875 in the amount of $561,403 (4/5 vote).
REPORT
Approval of the recommended actions will allow an increase of appropriations to the Alternate Indigent Defense (AID) Org 2875 without an increase of Net County Cost (NCC) as the appropriations will be re-budgeted from the Public Defender (PD) Org 2880 due to savings accrued within FY 2024-25 from their budgeted NCC provided out of the General Fund. The recommended budget resolutions are necessary to provide funding for additional service needs in the AID budget to cover costs associated with Public Defense case declinations in the current year. The current Alternate Indigent provider, Fitzgerald, Alvarez & Ciummo, a Professional Law Corporation (FAC), is providing representation for cases that were declined by the PD. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
If the recommended actions are not approved, funding will not be provided for additional conflict defense services and PD case declinations.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in NCC associated with the recommended actions. Approval of the first and second recommended actions will decrease the PD Org 2880 Account 6100 (Regular Salaries) budgeted appropriations by $200,000 resulting in a release of $200,000 of NCC, to allow the re-budgeting of appropriations to the AID Org 2875 in FY 2024-25. The third recommended action ...
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