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CPCS urges changes to indigency definition, reassessment rules and elimination of $150 fee
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Summary
The Committee for Public Counsel Services supported H.17‑68/S.10‑37 to expand the definition of indigency, change automatic six‑month reassessments to case-triggered reviews and eliminate a $150 counsel fee imposed on indigent adults, arguing these updates would reduce administrative burden and improve access to counsel.
Diana Williams, legislative policy counsel for the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS), told the Joint Committee on the Judiciary that H.17‑68/S.10‑37 proposes updates to the definition and administration of indigency determinations that would promote efficiency and equity.
Williams summarized the bill’s principal components: expand the list of federal and state assistance programs that qualify for an indigency presumption, revise automatic reassessments that currently occur every six months to a model where reassessments are triggered only if probation receives information suggesting a change of status, and eliminate a $150 counsel fee imposed on indigent adults unless they later demonstrate an ability to pay.
She and CPCS asked the committee to report the bill favorably again after the Judiciary Committee had reported it out in a prior session. Williams argued the changes would save court resources, reduce administrative burdens, and remove a financial barrier that can lead to collateral consequences if unpaid fees accrue.
Committee members offered no substantive objections in the hearing record and did not take immediate formal action; CPCS requested a favorable report and indicated support from the trial court and other stakeholders in earlier sessions.
