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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Rep. King
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
1/24/07
HB 255
SHORT TITLE
Death Penalty Case Contract Attorney Rates
SB
ANALYST Ellie Ortiz
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY07
FY08
$800.0
Recurring
General Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Public Defender Department (PDD)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
The House Bill 255 adds a new section to the Public Defender Act providing that a contract
negotiated by the department with an attorney for representation in a death penalty case shall
provide attorney fee rates on the same basis as the attorney fee schedule set by the Risk
Management Division of the General Services Department.
This bill provides $800, 000 to pay contract attorneys of the Public Defender Department to
represent indigent clients facing the death penalty.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
According to PDD, it is unclear whether this bill applies to existing death penalty prosecutions,
future prosecutions or both. It is impossible for the department to assess what resources will be
needed for future death penalty prosecutions or whether the amount appropriated in this bill will
be adequate.