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Committee advances bill to ban flat-fee public-defense contracts; counties seek state funding
Summary
AB 690 would prohibit flat-fee or per-case contracts for indigent defense and establish standards for counties; the Senate committee passed the bill to Appropriations, but counties and rural groups expressed concern about unfunded mandates and urged state funding.
The Senate advanced AB 690 (Chair Schultz) to Appropriations after a lengthy discussion about public-defense funding and the effect of contract structures on the quality of representation. The bill would set standards for indigent defense and prohibit flat-fee or per-case compensation models for attorneys contracted to provide public defense services in counties that lack public defender offices.
Supporters, including prisoner-justice advocates and public-defender…
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