Tens of thousands of people are trapped in Texas’ local jails every year, many of whom are indigent. Public defender offices and court-appointed attorneys are critical for low-income defendants who cannot otherwise afford a criminal defense attorney and who are navigating the bail and pretrial systems.
HB 295 (Authors: Murr, Collier, Smith, Moody, Ann Johnson | Sponsor: Zaffirini), Relating to the provision of funding for indigent defense services. The Texas Indigent Defense Commission must offer technical support to help counties improve their systems for providing indigent defense services, including indigent defense support services, as well as distribute grants to: entities that provide administrative services to counties under an interlocal contract entered into for the purpose of providing or improving indigent defense service provision, and nonprofit corporations that provide indigent defense services or support services.
Furthermore, during the tax year, counties can fund public defender’s office operations as part of their indigent defense compensation expenditures, which previously had been reserved for the provision of appointed counsel for indigent individuals in criminal or civil proceedings. Signed by the Governor; effective on 9/1/2021