Indigent Legal Services director warns proposed ILS fund sweep would jeopardize family‑court representation expansion
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Summary
Patricia Worth of the Office of Indigent Legal Services told the budget committee that the executive budget would sweep $234 million from the ILS fund; she said $114M is for assigned‑counsel rate reimbursement but $120M lacks a public‑defense purpose and urged legislators to preserve the fund and to phase in a $150M target to expand family‑court representation.
Patricia Worth, director of the New York State Office of Indigent Legal Services (ILS), urged lawmakers to protect the ILS fund and increase investment in family‑court representation at a joint Senate/Assembly budget hearing.
Worth outlined ILS's work expanding criminal defense capacity and launching model family representation offices, and asked lawmakers to preserve recent gains. "The ILS fund cannot be used as a tool to balance the general fund," she told the committees, arguing that sweeping the fund would jeopardize county reimbursements and the trust underpinning multi‑year reforms.
Worth described the governor's executive budget proposal as authorizing a $234 million sweep from the ILS fund. She said roughly $114 million of that is related to covering the state share of increased assigned‑counsel rates enacted in 2023, which she said fits the fund's purpose. "But $120,000,000 of this has no discernible public defense related purpose," Worth said, urging lawmakers to reduce or reject any transfer beyond the amount tied to the rate increase.
Worth also repeated ILS's multi‑year proposal to achieve an annual $150 million appropriation dedicated to quality family‑court representation nationwide. She said a phased approach is practical but necessary because current family‑court caseloads exceed recommended standards, and the current $25 million appropriation in the executive budget is insufficient to meet demand.
Why it matters: Counties and legal services groups rely on ILS reimbursements to staff family and criminal defense programs. A broad fund sweep would reduce available grant and reimbursement dollars and undermine counties'ability to plan multi‑year projects; ILS leaders said that would directly reduce legal help for low‑income New Yorkers in housing and family matters. Lawmakers said they would take Worth's concerns into account while considering budget adjustments.
Sources: Testimony by Patricia Worth, director of the Office of Indigent Legal Services (SEG 3107'SEG 3289).