The 6th Amendment defines the right to a fair and competent defense counsel, provided by the government. However, San Joaquin County has been negligent in collecting fees for access to that defense counsel, according to a grand jury report.
The San Joaquin County grand jury recently released a report that found that the San Joaquin County Public Defender’s Office is making minimal efforts to recover its legal fees. In fact, out of 10 counties included in the jury’s report, San Joaquin County has the lowest rate of fees recovered — $187,577 out of $52.5 million in total costs, or 0.36 percent.
“The basic report indicated that they aren’t following through on fees,” said Howard Seligman of the county civil grand jury.
Normally, if a defendant cannot afford a lawyer, the county will appoint them a public defender. But even these services include some fees. In San Joaquin County’s case, a $50 registration fee is assessed per Penal Code Section 987.5, and at the end of a trial the defendant is required to pay attorneys fees: $125 for a misdemeanor or $175 for felonies.
The grand jury found that the county rarely follows through on actually collecting these fees from the defendant. Thus, almost no money is being compensated for public defenders.
“We certainly believe that, when a court makes an order for a criminal defendant, there should be some kind of mechanism to see that these fees are paid,” Seligman said.
The jury also found during their study that defendants were uninformed of both the assessed $50 fee and the misdemeanor-felony fees. As a result, the jury recommends that the county board of supervisors consider appointing an officer to determine defendants’ ability to pay, so that these fees may be properly charged and an county agency can follow through on collections, according to Seligman.
“There’s no specific agency that (collects), but they should,” Seligman said.
June 3, 2016
Lodi News-Sentinel
By Joe Benapfl
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