TASK FORCE ON INDIGENT DEFENSE [Home]

 

 

Post Office Box 12066                                                           

Austin, Texas, 78711-2066

 

For Immediate Release                                                               Contact: Terri Tuttle

July 25, 2002                                                                                  512-936-6994

 

TASK FORCE ON INDIGENT DEFENSE AWARDS $7.2 MILLION

TO TEXAS COUNTIES

 

AUSTIN – Fewer than six months after its formation, the Task Force on Indigent Defense has announced $7.2 million in initial grants to 238 Texas counties to improve indigent defense in Texas.

 

“These counties’ efforts to comply with Senate Bill 7 provisions must be applauded,” said Presiding Judge Sharon Keller of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the Task Force chair. “We’ve got significant work remaining, but this money is an important step for counties throughout Texas to ensure a fair, efficient and effective criminal justice system.”

 

State money for these grants was provided under Senate Bill 7 passed during the 2001 legislative session. In addition to overseeing the distribution of grants to assist counties with indigent defense, the Task Force is responsible for developing statewide policies and standards for providing legal representation to indigent defendants for trial, appeals and other post-conviction proceedings.

 

Task Force members and staff reviewed grant applications submitted by 244 counties in Texas to determine if they met minimum standards for prompt counsel appointment for poor defendants, as well as whether the county was financially eligible for the state money.

 

The Task Force also established guidelines to distribute $11.2 million in indigent-defense grants for the 2003 fiscal year. Applications will be distributed to all counties in early August.

 

Before Senate Bill 7, Texas was one of 10 states that placed on counties primary financial responsibility for court-appointed attorneys.

 

 

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