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County executive urges opposition to AB 690, saying it would raise public defender costs
Summary
County Executive Officer Dave Rickert urged the board to oppose Assembly Bill 690, saying the measure would ban flat‑fee or per‑case public defender contracts and require counties to fund many non‑legal support services, increasing local costs.
Dave Rickert, Shasta County’s chief executive officer, used his regular report to alert the board to Assembly Bill 690 and to request the board oppose the measure. “This bill would make it illegal to enter a flat fee or per case compensation contract for services,” Rickert said.
Rickert told supervisors the bill would require counties to fund a broad range of services through public defender contracts, including support staff, technology, ancillary legal services, immigration support, paralegals, social workers, mitigation specialists, experts and investigators. “This bill would significantly increase the cost of funding the public defender's office without significantly benefiting the mission of the public defender,” he said.
Rickert also said the bill would allow a contractor to seek contract modification if the contract failed to provide those additional services, and that the requirement could push counties into providing services beyond traditional legal defense and into areas where private defense attorneys also operate. He recommended the board consider opposing the measure and said he would bring a formal letter back for the board’s consideration.
No formal board action on AB 690 was recorded in the meeting minutes for March 25; Rickert said he would bring a letter back to the board for consideration.
