Nevada indigent defense department seeks contract changes after flat-fee concerns

At the Board on Indigent Defense Services meeting on May 14, Executive Director Peter Handy reported that the Department of Indigent Defense is working with Nye and Douglas counties to revise local indigent defense contracts to address concerns about flat-fee payment structures and attorney workload provisions.

Handy said the Department has emphasized to county counsel the need to preserve an "escape valve" for extraordinary compensation in unusually complex or unusually heavy-workload years; his recommendation is that authority to approve such requests rest with the Department or the county counsel — not the trial court — to avoid any appearance of conflict. He described the discussions with Nye County counsel Brian Filter as cooperative and transparent and said an additional set of contract suggestions will be provided shortly, with the aim of having modifications in place at the start of the next fiscal year.

Handy told the board that recent contract changes in Nye County have already improved capacity: 11 of 12 contracts are now in place and attorneys report greater bandwidth to serve clients. The Department is exploring a modular contract model that would allow counties to add or remove optional provisions while maintaining compliance with regulatory obligations, including ADKT 411 and the Standards for the Defense Function.

Deputy Director Homa Sayyar reported oversight attorneys continue to observe court proceedings and relay generally positive feedback on representation quality, while noting concerns from some providers about flat-fee arrangements. Deputy Director Brenda Roberts said training and onboarding improvements are being developed in tandem with contract work, including a regional approach combining required online coursework with periodic in-person sessions to build foundational skills and address practice gaps identified by monitors.

The board was told the NAPD consulting and implementation contract is scheduled to go before the Board of Examiners on June 9; the Department said that consulting help may inform both contract design and training strategy. The Department will present updated contract language and implementation timing to the board as those drafts are completed.

Next steps: the Department will circulate its additional contract suggestions to Nye County and continue discussions with Douglas County. The board will be updated at future meetings and when the NAPD consulting contract receives Board of Examiners review.