Public defender may charge fees

Erica Johnson

Monday, April 14, 2003 | 9:20 a.m.

The Clark County public defender's office is considering a proposal that would charge some indigent clients for legal representation.

The office is currently researching ways to determine whether it will charge a nominal fee for clients who can afford to pay something for legal service, Clark County Public Defender Marcus Cooper said.

Cooper said the proposal is still "under construction" and that officials hope to present the plan to the County Commission as early as next week.

If the proposal is implemented, Cooper said, indigent clients who cannot afford to pay anything for the office's services would still receive free representation.

"This is not about trying to avoid representing those individuals who require it," he said. "It wouldn't prevent us from representing those who are truly indigent and require representation."

But Gary Peck, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, said charging clients would not solve the management and organizational problems that have plagued the office for years.

"Already the office is doing a miserable job of providing adequate representation to people," he said. "Nominal fees for service may provide some marginal help, but it's hardly going to fix what is broken."

News of the possible fee structure came on the heels of a report last month by the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, which revealed glaring problems with the growing caseloads handled by the office's attorneys.

The association also is helping the office research whether charging a fee is feasible.

With 69 attorneys, each handling 200 to 300 cases, officials said the office is near the point where guilty verdicts could be constitutionally challenged.

The office has also seen an influx in juvenile clients. The number of juvenile case assignments increasing from 576 to 2,867 since 1993.

The office needs 50 more attorneys and dozens more social workers and paralegals to do the work, according to the report.

County officials did not promise more funding when Cooper outlined the problems before the County Commission last week.

Peck said it is the county's responsibility to implement long-term solutions and not a quick fix, such as a fee for services.

"The county seems to be bent on turning a blind eye to all the other profound problems that plague that office and figuring out ways to shirk its responsibility to fix that problem," he said.

Cooper said a fee structure was considered long before the report was released.

If the fee is implemented, Cooper said, Clark County will join several other jurisdictions nationwide that charge clients for legal representation.