Governor Paterson Announces Legislation to Create Office of Indigent Legal Services

ALBANY, NY (06/18/2010)(readMedia)-- Governor David Paterson today sent to the Legislature a bill to create a new Office of Indigent Legal Services in the Executive Department, which will be responsible for overseeing and improving the quality of legal representation provided to indigent defendants in New York State. The Governor included this proposal in an Article VII bill in the Public Protection General Government budget bill.

"For over a decade, numerous efforts have been made to reform the State's indigent defense system," Governor Paterson said. "I am overjoyed that, by working together with the judiciary, the Association of Counties and the Legislature, we have at last reached consensus on a plan to help ensure that whether a defendant is wealthy or poor, he or she will have access to effective and meaningful legal representation. I am especially proud that we were able to reach this consensus agreement without imposing a fiscal burden on the counties, and in this time of economic crisis."

Court of Appeals Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman said: "I am very gratified by this agreement. The state's indigent defense program had produced very uneven results over the years and is broken. The agreement reached today is a new departure placing the proper emphasis on meaningful, quality representation for indigent criminal defendants, and not just a formulaic distribution of funds. I am looking forward to chairing the indigent defense board and helping this new program evolve successfully."

The agreed-upon legislation will create the Office of Indigent Legal Services and an Indigent Legal Services Board, which will consult with and advise the Office on matters relating to indigent defense services.

The Office of Indigent Legal Services will, among other duties:

  • Examine and monitor the services provided to indigent defendants in the counties;
  • Collect information from the counties in order to study and recommend measures to enhance the quality of representation provided;
  • Establish criteria for the provision of conflict defender services in the counties; and
  • Target grants to counties in support of innovative and cost-effective solutions to enhance the quality of indigent legal services.

New and increased fees also will be enacted to provide approximately $38 million during 2010-11. An additional $8.5 million will be appropriated for support of the Office of Indigent Legal Services, which includes funds to allow the Office to award incentive grants to counties. Another $15 million will be used to support civil legal services. Remaining monies from the new fees will support costs of the Judiciary. These fees include:

  • A new fee of $95 to be paid by plaintiffs (banks and credit card companies) in consumer credit transactions. For claims filed before September 1, 2010, the fee would be paid when the plaintiff files the judgment if the fee were not to be paid at the inception of the transaction;
  • A new $500 "credentialing" fee to be paid by persons who sit for the bar examination who were educated outside the country;
  • A new fee of $190 to be paid at the time the index fee is paid in a foreclosure action; and
  • A criminal history search fee, which is paid when the Office of Court administration performs background checks, will be raised from $55 to $65.

This legislation will also allow monies in the Indigent Legal Services Fund to be used to support the Office of Indigent Legal Services and to ensure that, for the next four years, counties outside of New York City will receive a guaranteed percentage of monies from the fund. New York City will receive a distribution of $40 million from the fund each year. During the next four years, guaranteed payments to counties will be "stepped down" or decreased annually, and the funding converted to a grant process to be overseen by the Board, driven by demonstrable improvement in performance, and informed by the research and recommendations of the Office. All counties will be eligible to receive additional monies in the form of incentive grants, and starting in 2015, all monies paid to counties outside of New York City will be in the form of incentive grants.

###

Additional news available at www.ny.gov/governor High resolution images available at www.ny.gov/governor/mediaimages | password: paterson New York State | Executive Chamber | press.office@chamber.state.ny.us | 212.681.4640 | 518.474.8418