ALBANY — Leaders of county governments are heaving a sigh of relief after both houses of the Legislature passed budget bills that would require the state to provide relief to counties for increases in the pay rates for lawyers assigned to represent indigent individuals.
Derailing Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal to make the counties responsible for the pay increases for assigned counsel has been a high priority for the New York State Association of Counties.
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Rate hikes
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Counties across the state have faced challenges in attracting and retaining lawyers to work as so-called 18B attorneys — those agreeing to accept assignments to represent low-income people in the courts.
As a result of legislation now under review, those lawyers could soon be earning as much as $164 per hour.
The assigned counsel rate — now set at $60 an hour for misdemeanor cases and $75 an hour for felonies — has remained unchanged since 2004.
If the counties had to pay for the increased rates, they estimate they would have incurred as much as $150 million in new expenses.
“As we enter the final stages of budget negotiations, New Yorkers are counting on budget negotiators to protect property taxpayers,” said Michael Zurlo, who is both president of NYSAC and the Clinton County administrator.
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State reimbursement
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The counties have been arguing that without properly funding the 18B lawyers, the progress made so far in improving indigent legal services could be reversed.
The budget measure passed by the...
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