Indigent Defense Grants Program

Eligibility and Reporting

Eligibility Requirements

In general, applicants are eligible for grant funding for Fiscal Year 2002 if they comply with all of the statements in the following checklist:

q Only counties are eligible to apply for grant funds.

q The County Commissioners’ Court must issue a resolution that authorizes the grant request and takes responsibility for the appropriate expenditure of the funds. (See sample resolution, page 12).

q Funds are to be used to pay for the increased cost of providing indigent defense for the county and the cost of implementing and reporting under the Fair Defense Act.

q A county may not reduce the amount of funds expended for indigent defense services in the county because of funds provided by this grant.

q Any grant awarded under this program must be administered in accordance with rules for the Fair Defense Act (FDA) in Chapter 173 of the Texas Administrative Code and the general grant rules found in the Uniform Grant Management Standards.

Reporting Requirements

q Counties must report expenditures on or before May 31, 2002.

q The official designated as Program Director by the grantee county is responsible for the reporting requirements of the grant.

q The grantee may not report funds expended before October 1, 2001 or after March 31, 2002. If using the period beginning January 1, 2002 and ending March 31, 2002, the grantee may not report funds expended before January 1, 2002 or after March 31, 2002.

Detailed Guide to the Grant Application Form

Box 1—Name of County

Name of the county applying for the grant.

Box 2—State Payee ID#

All entities that receive funds from the state have been issued a state payee identification number. If unknown, first check with the chief financial officer for your county. If still unknown, use your employer identification number as assigned by the Internal Revenue Service.

Box 3—Division or Unit

Identify the division or unit within the county to administer the grant.

Box 4—Official Mailing Address

General mailing address of the county.

Box 5 — Contact Person

Choose a person who is responsible to coordinate with the Task Force or its staff as the contact person and enter that person’s name, title, address, telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address, if available. This will be the person Task Force staff members will contact with questions about the application.

Box 6—Program Director

Name, title, address, telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address (if available) for the program director. The program director should be the official or employee of the county that will be responsible for program operation or monitoring and who will serve as the point-of-contact regarding the program’s day-to-day operations.

Box 7 — Financial Officer

The county auditor or county treasurer, if the county does not have an auditor. Include the name, title, phone number, and fax number for the county financial officer.

INDIGENT DEFENSE GRANT PROGRAM (IDGP)

Application Form

APPLICATION FOR THE GRANT PERIOD: OCTOBER 1, 2002 TO MARCH 31, 2002		Date Received: (for Task Force use only)

1. NAME OF COUNTY:		2. State payee identification number:

3. Division or unit within the county to administer the grant.		Grant Officials
		6. Program Director
4. Official county mailing address.		Title:
		Address:


5. Person who can answer specific questions about this application:		Telephone:
Contact:		Fax:
Title:		E-mail:
Address:		7. Financial Officer
		Title:
		Address:
Telephone:
Fax:
E-mail:		Telephone:
		Fax:
		E-mail:
To the best of my knowledge, all information in this application is true and correct. The application has been duly authorized by the governing body of the grantee county and county agrees to comply with all Task Force rules, including the attached assurances, if awarded.
Signature of Authorized Official:		Date:

Printed Name:		Title:

Indigent Defense Grants Program

Certification

The undersigned have reviewed the current indigent defense plan(s), pursuant to Texas Government Code Section 71, covering adult and juvenile defendants in the district and county court of ___________________ County. We hereby certify that the plan(s) comply with each of the following requirements of the Fair Defense Act, Texas Government Code Section 71.0351.

q The plan(s) specify that each accused person will be brought before a magistrate within 48 hours of arrest for proceedings under Article 15.17 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

q The plan(s) specify that when an eligible defendant submits the required documents for the appointment of counsel, the request and documents required will be transmitted to the appointing authority within 24 hours of the request.

q The plan(s) specify that the appointing authority will appoint counsel for eligible defendants within one working day of receiving the request (counties with population of 250,000 and above) or within three working days of receiving the request (counties with population under 250,000).*

q The applicant county also acknowledges compliance with all relevant state statutes, regulations, policies, guidelines, and requirements including the Title 1, Chapter 173, of the Texas Administrative Code, and the Uniform Grant Management Standards (UGMS), as they relate to the application, acceptance and use of funds for this program.

[Attach any amended interim indigent defense plan as necessary]

We propose to use the grant to pay for the following improvements in this county’s indigent defense services:

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Certified and Approved:

________________________ Indigent Defense Grant Program________

Applicant's County Program Title

_________________________________________ ____________________________ ______________

Printed Name and Title of Authorized Official Signature of Authorized Official Date

* This requirement does not necessarily need to apply to defendants who are released on bond prior to appointment of counsel so long as the plan appoints counsel at least by the first court appearance or the initiation of adversarial judicial proceedings, whichever occurs first.

Indigent Defense Grant Program

Grant Expenditure Report

Please refer to grant reporting definitions.

Expenditure category	BaselIne Year	Expenditure Reporting Period ¹ ^{(Select One)}
Litigation Expenditures:	10/1/00 – 9/30/01	10/1/01 -3/31/02	1/1/02 - 3/31/02
Attorney Fees
Other Litigation Expenditures (i.e. investigation, expert witnesses, other litigation expenditures).
Total Litigation Expenditures

Administrative/Indirect Expenditures:
Personnel
Travel and Training
Equipment²
Other Direct Expenditures
Indirect Expenditures
Total Administrative/Indirect Expenditures

Public Defender Overhead

Grand Total

¹ Some counties began implementation efforts prior to January 1, 2002. A county may include expenditures, and encumbrances, for implementing the indigent defense system for either the period of October 1, 2001 to March 31, 2002 or the period of January 1, 2002 to March 31, 2002. The amounts reported will be annualized for comparison to the baseline year expenditures.

² Include list of equipment purchased, including the description and cost for each item.

Note: Please complete the Funding Worksheet after you have completed the Grant Expenditure Report to make a preliminary determination concerning your county's eligibility for Fair Defense Act grant funds.

Funding Worksheet
Indigent Defense Grant Program

*Complete this worksheet after you have completed the Grant Expenditure Report to make a preliminary determination concerning your county's eligibility for Fair Defense Act grant funds.*

			EXPENDITURE REPORTING PERIOD
			10/1/01 - 3/31/02	1/1/01 - 3/31/02
			(6-month period)	(3-month period)

	EXPENDITURE REPORTING PERIOD
(a)	Grand Total

	If reporting 6-month period, multiply by 2		× 2	× 4
(b)	If reporting 3-month period, multiply by 4		× 2	× 4

(c)	Annualized Expenditures	(a) * (b)	$ -	$ -

	BASELINE YEAR
(d)	Grand Total

(e)	DIFFERENCE	(c) - (d)	$ -	$ -



If the amount on line (e) is a negative number, you may still be eligible for grant funds. To assist in making this determination, please explain any circumstances that would have caused your expenditures for indigent defense to decrease during the grant reporting period. Also, please note any unusual items which may be reflected in your Baseline Year (i.e. SB 7 expenditures prior to October 1^st, extraordinary items in base period, etc...). You may also detail expenditures made as a direct result of implementing the Fair Defense Act. THIS BOX SHOULD BE COMPLETED REGARDLESS OF WHETHER (e) IS POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE SINCE FUTURE GRANTS MAY USE THE BASELINE AMOUNT !
EXPLANATION:
INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING FORM:
This form should be completed using amounts recorded on the Grant Expenditure Report.
(a)	Enter the Grand Total amount from the last line of the EXPENDITURE REPORTING PERIOD column. You should only have amounts entered in one column or the other, not both.
(b)	No entry required.
(c)	Multiply the amount on line (a) by 2 or 4, as shown, to calculate expenditures on an annualized basis.
(d)	Enter the Grand Total amount from the last line of the BASELINE YEAR column.
(e)	Subtract the BASELINE YEAR amount (d) from the EXPENDITURE REPORTING PERIOD amount.

Grant Program Reporting

Definitions

Expenditures: Includes amounts expended and encumbered or otherwise legally obligated during the reporting period.

Baseline Year: Expenditures for the period of October 1, 2000 to September 30, 2001 will establish costs incurred to provide indigent defense services in the county during the period identified as a baseline period. The amounts reported for the period will be compared to the (annualized) amounts reported for the Expenditure Reporting Period to determine excess costs associated with the implementation of the Fair Defense Act.

Expenditure Reporting Period: A county may select either the period of October 1, 2001 to March 31, 2002 or January 1, 2002 to March 31, 2002 as the reporting period. Include all expenditures incurred by the county to provide indigent defense services for the selected period.

Funding Worksheet: The purpose of the funding worksheet is to make a preliminary determination regarding the county’s eligibility for grant funds. It also provides the county the opportunity to explain any reduction of indigent defense expenditures from the baseline year.

Litigation Expenditures:

Attorney Fees: Reasonable attorney's fees for time spent in accordance with an adopted schedule of fees. The county's adopted schedule of fees may be a set hourly rate for separate types of services on which an attorney spends time and/or a flat rate for types of service. It is assumed that the billing rate includes an allocation for the attorney's or firm's overhead such as utilities and rent. No non-labor items such as car rental or hotel expense are shown in this account.

Other Litigation Expenditures: Includes expenditures for:

Investigation - Costs expended for research and investigation of the crime or evidence, such as investigators’ costs, lab fees, medical exams, and psychological/psychiatric examination.

Expert Witnesses - Costs expended for payment to expert witnesses used in a case, such as travel.

Other Litigation Expenditures - Expenses not included in the previous categories, such as interpreter services and transcription services.

Amounts paid for indigent defense support services must be approved by the judge presiding over proceedings. Legal fees must be approved by the judge presiding over proceedings and paid in accordance with a schedule of fees adopted by formal action of the judges of the county courts, statutory courts, and district courts trying criminal and juvenile cases in the county.

Administrative/Indirect Expenses:

Personnel: Salaries and wages, including fringe benefits. Fringe benefits include, but are not limited to, the costs of leave, employee insurance, retirement, and unemployment benefits.

Travel and Training: Travel costs include transportation, meals and lodging and related, incidental costs. This category may include travel for contracted personnel. Grant funds used for travel expenses must be expended in accordance with state travel guidelines. Training (for county employees only) includes registration fees or tuition if the course taken directly relates to the administration of the county’s indigent defense program.

Equipment: Tangible, non-expendable personal property with a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost of $1,000 or more per unit, and any other item, regardless of cost, that the county chooses to capitalize in its own accounting records. Equipment must be used in direct support of the investigation and defense of crimes allegedly committed by indigent defendants or in meeting the requirements of the Fair Defense Act.

Applicants must submit with their grant applications a list of all proposed equipment purchases for approval. The Task Force or its designees may refuse any request for equipment. Decisions regarding equipment will be made based on whether the grantee has demonstrated that the requested equipment is necessary and reasonable in cost.

The Task Force will not approve grant funds for general agency use of vehicles or other equipment.

Other Direct Expenditures: Costs directly related to the operation of the county’s indigent defense program that are not included in other expenditure category. These costs may include office rent, utilities, office supplies, shared usage costs of office equipment, vehicle operating expenses, paper, printing, postage, and educational resource materials. This category may also include development costs for software and software upgrades to comply with the requirements of the Fair Defense Act.

Any professional or contractual service must be in direct support of the investigation and defense of an eligible offense or in meeting the requirements of the Fair Defense Act. Any contract or agreement entered into by a grantee that obligates grant funds must be in writing and consistent with Texas contract law.

Indirect Expenditures: Costs incurred for a common or joint purpose benefiting more than one cost objective and not readily assignable to the cost objectives specifically benefited. Examples would include financial services, human resources and other functions that support multiple county programs. The Task Force may approve indirect costs in an amount not to exceed ten percent of the approved direct costs in the grant award, unless the grantee has an approved cost-allocation plan. If the applicant has a cost-allocation plan, the applicant should indicate the indirect cost rate in the allocation plan as part of the application. The Task Force may request documentation to verify approval of the grantee’s indirect cost rate and may reject any approved cost-allocation plan it believes is excessive.

Public Defender Overhead: Indirect expenditures allocated to the public defender’s office. This section is not applicable if the county does not have a public defender’s office.

Sample Resolution

Indigent Defense Grant Program

WHEREAS, under the provisions of the Fair Defense Act, 77^th Regular Session, counties are eligible to receive financial assistance from the Task Force on Indigent Defense to provide indigent defense services in the county; and

WHEREAS, this grant program will assist the county in the implementation of the provisions of the Fair Defense Act and the improvement of the indigent criminal defense services in this county; and

WHEREAS, ____________________County Commissioners Court has agreed that in the event of loss or misuse of the funds, ______________________County Commissioners assures that the funds will be returned in full to the Task Force on Indigent Defense.

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED and ordered that the County Judge of this county is designated as the Authorized Official to execute the grant application for the Indigent Defense Expense Program and all other necessary documents to accept said grant; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the County Judge is designated as the Program Director and Contact Person for this grant and the County Auditor/County Treasurer is designated as the Financial Officer for this grant.

Adopted this ______day of ________________, 2002.

_____________________________

County Judge

Attest:

_____________________________

County Clerk

Steps in Applying for A Grant
1	Determine Eligibility – See pages 1-2
2	Complete the Grant Application Form – See pages 3-4
3	Sign the Certification –See pages 5
4	Complete the Grant Expenditure Report and Funding Worksheet Pages –See pages 6 -9
5	Submit the County Commissioners Resolution –See page 10

General Information

Application Process

Eligibility Requirements

Reporting Requirements

Box 5 — Contact Person

Indigent Defense Grants Program

Administrative/Indirect Expenses: