SUMMARY--Requires creation of special account in county general fund to pay certain attorneys who defend indigent persons in capital cases. (BDR 14-136)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: No.
Effect on the State or on Industrial Insurance: No.
EXPLANATION - Matter in italics is new; matter in brackets [ ] is material to be omitted.
AN ACT relating to procedure in criminal cases; requiring the creation of a special account in the county general fund to be used to pay an attorney who is appointed to represent an indigent person in a capital case; requiring the county treasurer to deposit in the special account the money recovered from a defendant to pay for the costs of providing him with an attorney; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
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Section 1 Chapter 178 of NRS is hereby amended by adding thereto a new section to read as follows:
1. The county treasurer shall create a special account for attorneys appointed to represent indigent persons in capital cases in the county general fund.
2. The county treasurer shall deposit the money collected pursuant to NRS 178.3975 and 178.398 in the county general fund for credit to the account created pursuant to subsection 1. The money in this account must be used only by a district court in that county to compensate an attorney, other than the public defender, who is appointed to represent an indigent person in a capital case before the district court after any money appropriated to the court for that purpose has been exhausted.
3. The interest and income earned on the money in the account, after deducting any applicable charges, must be credited to the account.
Sec. 2 NRS 178.3975 is hereby amended to read as follows:
178.3975 1. The court may order a defendant to pay all or any part of the expenses incurred by the county, city or state in providing the defendant with an attorney which are not recovered pursuant to NRS 178.398. The order may be made at the time of or after the appointment of an attorney and may direct the defendant to pay the expenses in installments.
2. The court shall not order a defendant to make such a payment unless the defendant is or will be able to do so. In determining the amount and method of payment, the court shall take account of the financial resources of the defendant and the nature of the burden that payment will impose.
3. A defendant who has been ordered to pay expenses of his defense and who is not willfully or without good cause in default in the payment thereof may at any time petition the court which ordered the payment for remission of the payment or of any unpaid portion thereof. If it appears to the satisfaction of the court that payment of the amount due will impose manifest hardship on the defendant or his immediate family, the court may remit all or part of the amount due or modify the method of payment.
4. The money recovered must in each case be paid over to the [city, county or public defender's office which bore the expense and was not reimbursed by another governmental agency.] county treasurer in the county where the court is located and placed in the special account for attorneys appointed to represent indigent persons in capital cases created pursuant to section 1 of this act.
5. Upon the request of a defendant, if the court finds that the defendant is suitable to perform supervised work for the benefit of the community, the court may allow the defendant to pay all or part of any expenses incurred by the county, city or state in providing him with an attorney by performing supervised work for the benefit of the community for a reasonable number of hours, the value of which would be commensurate with such expenses incurred. The work must be performed for and under the supervising authority of a county, city, town or other political subdivision or agency of the State of Nevada or a charitable organization that renders service to the community or its residents. The court may require a defendant who requests to perform community service to deposit with the court a reasonable sum of money to pay for the cost of policies of insurance against liability for personal injury and damage to property or for industrial insurance, or both, during those periods in which he performs the work, unless, in the case of industrial insurance, it is provided by the authority for which he performs the work.
Sec. 3 NRS 178.398 is hereby amended to read as follows:
178.398 If a defendant for whom an attorney is appointed at public expense on account of indigency has property subject to execution or acquires such property within 6 years after the termination of the attorney's representation, the court shall determine the value of the legal services provided and shall render judgment for that amount in favor of the [state, county or city which furnished the public defender or otherwise paid for the defense.] county treasurer in the county where the court is located and placed in the special account for attorneys appointed to represent indigent persons in capital cases created pursuant to section 1 of this act.
Sec. 4. This act becomes effective on July 1, 1997.