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Attorney urges Wayne County to address delayed payments to court-appointed counsel; committee follow-up planned
Summary
A local attorney told the Wayne County Commission that court-appointed counsel face months-long delays and burdensome micro-billing; the chair directed the Government Operations Committee to review the matter.
An attorney representing Black Women Lawyers of Michigan told the Wayne County Commission on July 17 that court-appointed counsel in Wayne County are facing delayed payments, burdensome billing practices and unclear timelines for compensation.
"There's concerns from attorneys about Wayne County, there being no expected date of payment for court appointed counsel," said attorney Robin McCoy, who identified herself as corresponding technical secretary for Black Women Lawyers of Michigan. McCoy said county indigent defense billing practices include micro-billing that she described as "not standard" and potentially "invasive." She said the delays and billing practices have led some seasoned attorneys to leave the appointment list and that some attorneys have not been paid for months.
McCoy told the commission she had submitted a six-page letter outlining her concerns and said she had referred the matter to the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission (MIDC), which had added the issue to its agenda. "For most of us that do this work, we're not doing it to get rich ... but there are a number of seasoned attorneys that have come off the list because they have concerns about not getting paid," she said.
The chair declined to engage in back-and-forth during public comment but said the matter would be added to the Government Operations Committee's agenda for further review. "I will add that Government Operations chair take this item up in an upcoming meeting so we can, figure out what's going on and how we can be of assistance to get through this," the chair said.
Robin McCoy's comments were delivered during the public-comment portion of the meeting; the transcript records no immediate policy changes or votes on the subject. The commission's instruction that the Government Operations Committee examine the matter appears in the public record as the chair's response to the comment.
The transcript references MIDC standards, including a citation to "standard 8" (which McCoy described as a standard requiring prompt payment), and notes that McCoy had provided written materials to the commission.
