County ups attorney pay for indigent defense, with state reimbursement increasing

ELYRIA — With the Ohio General Assembly and Gov. Mike DeWine allocating an additional $150 million in the state budget to pay attorneys to represent indigent defendants, Lorain County commissioners last week increased the pay rate for attorneys in Lorain County courts willing to represent defendants who can't otherwise afford an attorney to represent them in criminal cases. Commissioners made the adjustment last week during their weekly videoconference meeting. The rate for court-appointed counsel representing indigent defendants will now be $75 per hour, for both juvenile and adult defendants when previously the pay for attorneys representing adults was higher than for those representing juveniles, commissioners said. The fees will be capped at $250 for attorneys representing defendants in municipal courts. The state currently reimburses the county 80 percent of the cost of indigent defense, officials said. Commissioner Lori Kokoski said state and local budget limitations meant the reimbursement rate was too low when she first became a commissioner in 2005. The reimbursement rate rose by half between 2005 and 2017 at the urging of the County Commissioners Association of Ohio. "All these years we kept these rates attorneys received at a very low rate because of the amount we were reimbursed from the state," she said. Lorain County Bar Association President Wayne Nicol said he was pleased the rate increased, but that the caps for municipal court and appellate court indigent defense fees should also rise. Many attorney stopped taking indigent defense cases because their rate of pay was too low in the past, making it unreasonable for them to spend their time doing criminal defense for non-paying clients. "There needs to be an availability in quality defense counsel," which he told commissioners leads to "better efficiencies and outcomes." Bar Association Executive Director Jeannie Motylewski told commissioners the county had to raise the rate or risk being on the hook for the entire amount with no reimbursement from the state. Under the law, criminal defendants have the right to an attorney even if they cannot afford one, and if so one must be provided to them. "I'm really happy we arrived at this day," Commissioner Matt Lundy said. DeWine "was way more open to the idea than the previous administration" of Gov. John Kasich, said Kokoski, who has served on the executive board of the CCAO for several years. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him at @daveobrienCT on Twitter.