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Harris County Moves Forward on Indigent Defense Reforms

By Steve Hall

"Harris County OKs hybrid public defender office," by Chris Moran is in today's Houston Chronicle.The Harris County Commissioners Court voted Tuesday to start a public defender office on an experimental basis, as long as the state covers the $4.4 million cost for the first year.The unanimous vote authorizes the county to apply for a grant from the Texas Task Force on Indigent Defense. If awarded the money, Harris County would open an office with lawyers dedicated to representing indigent defendants full time in October. It would start with mis­demeanor mental health cases and felony appeals cases.Within two years, it would expand to a staff of 68 handling about 6,400 criminal cases of all types in the civil and district courts...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on April 28, 2010 (boomark / email).