Fiscal impact reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) for standing finance committees of the NM Legislature. The LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports if they are used for other purposes.

 

Current FIRs (in HTML & Adobe PDF formats) are available on the NM Legislative Website (legis.state.nm.us).  Adobe PDF versions include all attachments, whereas HTML versions may not.  Previously issued FIRs and attachments may also be obtained from the LFC in Suite 101 of the State Capitol Building North.

 

 

F I S C A L    I M P A C T    R E P O R T

 

 

 

SPONSOR

Thompson

DATE TYPED

2/02/04

HB

409

 

SHORT TITLE

Public Defender Fee Increase

SB

 

 

 

ANALYST

Bransford

 

 

REVENUE

 

Estimated Revenue

Subsequent

Years Impact

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY04

FY05

 

Unknown

 

Recurring

Public Defender Automation Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Revenue Decreases)

 

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

 

Response Received From

Administrative Office of the Court (AOC)

 

No Response

Public Defender Department (PDD)

 

SUMMARY

 

Synopsis of Bill

 

House Bill 409 amends Section 31-15-12 NMSA 1978, of the criminal code for the purpose of increasing the application fee paid by a defendant to the Public Defender Department from $10.00 to $20.00 effective July 1, 2004.

 

Significant Issues

 

The PDD has reported that in many cases judges tend to waive the application fee and this happens more often in districts where there is not a state-run PDD office.  PDD collected $112.9 thousand in application fees in fiscal year 2003.  The fee is deposited in the public defender automation fund.

 

In an effort to support the department’s initiative to improve collection of the current fees, the LFC includes “percent of cases in which application fees were collected” as a new performance measures for fiscal year 2005.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

 

The governor’s performance review indicated that improving collection efforts and increasing fees could generate an additional $204.3 thousand in revenue.

 

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

 

The legislation should have little to no impact on the department’s operations.

 

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

 

If some judges tend to waive the fee at $10, what effect will it have on this tendency at $20?

 

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