Countywide : Cost Cuts Sought in Defending Indigents

County officials are pressing for changes in the way the government pays to defend indigent people charged with crimes, and county supervisors said Tuesday that they believe the new proposals could save “significant” amounts of money.

The county spent about $9 million last year in fees to private lawyers brought in to defend indigent clients. Those lawyers are hired whenever the public defender’s office faces a conflict of interest; for example, if that office already represents a co-defendant in the case.

To combat those costs in what are lean budget times for the county, a steering committee in February suggested a number of ways to monitor the program more efficiently. The county is gradually implementing the committee’s work.

The new proposals suggest a number of ways to trim the county’s bill for indigent defense services. Among them are a variety of accounting moves, as well as a proposal that outside lawyers be required to sign a contract in murder cases so that their legal fees could not exceed an agreed-upon amount.

“We’re trying to get a better control on those costs,” said Karen Davis, a county budget analyst who examined the issue. “Everyone involved feels that these suggestions will give us some savings.”

Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez welcomed the recommendations during the Tuesday board session. “All in all, I think it’s a positive for the county to address such an issue,” Vasquez said. “I look forward to the implementation of some of these recommendations.”