February 27, 2015
Legislature OKs assigned counsel plan
The Cortland County Legislature voted unanimously Thursday to adopt an assigned counsel plan in an attempt to avoid the conflict of interest they say exists with the county attorney’s office assigning lawyers to low-income clients when the Public Defender’s Office has conflicts of interest.
The plan, drafted by the Cortland County Bar Association, is intended to end the current practice of the county attorney handing out cases to local private attorneys, and instead have an independent administrator assign those cases.
County officials have said the department would cost between $100,000 and $150,000 for a full-time assigned counsel administrator and a part-time secretary. The money is available in the county attorney’s budget this year.
Jeremy Boylan, clerk of the Legislature, said this morning the salary range for the assigned counsel administrator would not be established until the stateapproves the plan.
Before session, the plan was endorsed by the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee. The committee had been awaiting the approval of the bar association, something that had been in the works for over a year.
Committee Chair Dick Bushnell (D-LD4) said after the legislative session that the county and bar association will work together after the state approves the plan to hire an assigned counsel administrator. He said he is happy a plan has finally been adopted.
“I’m glad we got it through; it’s been a long time coming and it’s just a matter of legislators and bar association (members) working together,” Bushnell said. “The next step is to have the state approve it and ... we can set it up and get somebody in the position.”
Legislator John Troy (LD-1) has said in previous Judiciary and Public Safety Committee meetings that one of the main revisions to the plan included having administrator candidates interviewed by four legislators and four bar association members. Before the final revision, the bar association recommended the interview process include a panel of two legislators and five bar members, which caused contention with some legislators who felt there should be an equal number from both groups.
By adopting an assigned counsel plan, the county will also be eligible to apply for state grants through the New York Office of Indigent Legal Services to help offset the cost of the department, according to Grant Van Sant, a bar association member.
Van Sant, who helped draft the plan, said after the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee meeting Thursday afternoon the state Office of Indigent Legal Services is looking for counties to provide counsel at the first court appearance for low-income clients. This is to ensure all people entitled to free defense receive a lawyer at their first court appearance to eliminate the wait time of clients.
The office also looks for counties to improve the quality and availability of counsel, which the assigned counsel plan will provide, he said.
“I would anticipate that puts Cortland County in a good position to receive some funds,” Van Sant said.
Van Sant said after the committee meeting that the amount that could be awarded through grants varies, depending on the type of grant.
County officials also said this plan would take some of the burden off the public defender and county attorney offices. The way Cortland County is currently handing out cases through the county attorney’s office has been deemed a conflict by the state Office of Court Administration and the state attorney general, as well as the Cortland County BarAssociation.
County Attorney Karen Howe said after the committee meeting there will not be many changes in her office once the assigned counsel administration falls under another department, but it will relieve her office of the work put into the program.
Some of the duties that will be shifted from her office include managing the lists of the assignments, processing the vouchers for the payments for every assigned counsel, and keeping track of the balance of the fund for how much is being paid out, making sure it has sufficient funds.
“There’s a lot of administrative and hands-on work and also we work pretty hard to try and keep the members of the panel getting ... equal assignments,” Howe said Thursday afternoon.
Legislature Chair Susan Briggs (R-Cortlandville) addressed the full Legislature after adoption of the agreement, saying an assigned counsel plan will help the county save money and open opportunities for grant funds.
“This was something I had hoped we could resolve,” Briggs said. “This has been a long-standing issue.”
The conflict in the county attorney’s office was one of Briggs’ goals to resolve during her term as Legislature chair.
Howe said during the legislative session the plan will now go to the state for review for approval and will take effect once the county gets the state’s approval.
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