DATE: June 6, 2017
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Elizabeth Diaz, Public Defender
SUBJECT: Amendment to Master Schedule of Fees - Public Defender
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
1. Conduct first hearing to amend the Fresno County Master Schedule of Fees, Charges and Recovered Costs Ordinance for services provided to indigent criminal defendants by amending Subsection 2001 of Section 2000-Public Defender; waive reading of the ordinance in its entirety; and set second hearing for June 20, 2017;
2. Designate County Counsel to prepare a fair and adequate summary of the proposed ordinance; and
3. Direct the Clerk to the Board to post and publish the required summary in accordance with Government Code Section 25124(b)(1).
REPORT
Approval of the recommended action will revise fees in section 2000 of the Master Schedule of Fees, Charges and Recovered Costs (MSF) by amending subsection 2001, based on recovery of actual costs for legal defense services provided by the Public Defender and the County's contracted alternate indigent defense provider, to adult and juvenile indigent defense criminal defendants in Fresno County.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Your Board may direct staff to use current fees or propose alternative fees, which may not recover 100% of costs.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. These rates will be used by the Public Defender to recover appointment registration fees and additional costs associated with the defense of adult and juvenile defendants. In FY 2015-16, the department collected $59,924 in court-ordered attorney fees. As of March 31, 2017, the department has collected $34,691 in court-ordered attorney fees. It is anticipated with acceptance of these fees, the Public Defender's collection of FY 2017-18 court-ordered fees will increase approximately 2%. However, the Public Defender revenue from court-ordered fees has decreased since FY 2013-14 when the Auditor-Controller/Treasure...
Click here for full text