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ATTORNEY APPOINTMENTS
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Instructions For Court Appointed Counsel Misdemeanor/Traffic Appointment of Counsel
Procedures
1. If you have been appointed to represent an individual charged in the Traffic
Division with misdemeanors or traffic infractions, or in the District Court charged
with misdemeanors, you should have received the following forms: 1) APPOINTING
COUNSEL - MISDEMEANOR CASE / VOUCHER FOR SERVICES" and 2) "Application for Appointed
Defense Services" with "Financial Affidavit". The order should have been signed
and dated by the judge. If not, you should contact the court to have the order approved
as soon as possible.
2. If your client has not yet completed the "Application for Appointed Defense
Services" and "Financial Affidavit", this should be accomplished ASAP. It must be
approved by the court. This may or may not have already occurred. The bailiff will
be able to verify whether this has been done previously. You should not incur substantial
time on the merits of the matter until this affidavit has been approved by the court.
YOU SHOULD OBTAIN AND KEEP A COPY OF THE AFFIDAVIT;
IT CONTAINS YOUR CLIENT'S ADDRESS AND PHONE INFORMATION.
3. The original or cover copy of your order of appointment should be filed
with the Clerk of the Court immediately. The other copies are retained for use in
submitting your voucher later.
4. Your appointment will automatically terminate when any of the following
events has occurred:
- Disposition by acquittal, dismissal, diversion or plea/trial and sentencing.
- As to probation, parole or suspended sentence revocations, the conclusion of the
hearing on the revocation and any motion to reinstate made at that time.
Your appointment does not automatically continue to include sentence modification
or reinstatement issues unless specifically so ordered by the court.
- If a failure to appear occurs, your appointment will terminate after 30 days have
passed without the arrest or surrender of your client.
5. Be prepared to submit your voucher in the form of copies 2 and 3 of the
appointment order at the time of the final hearing. If circumstances prevent this,
it must be submitted within 10 days or YOUR SERVICES
MAY BE DEEMED PRO BONO.
6. Submission of the voucher is as follows: Copy 2 and 3 go directly to the
Office of the Court Administrator. Copy 4 is retained by you.
7. Unless the case is deemed to be an exceptional case, you will be paid according
to the 'Court Appointment Fee Schedule'
8. The above fees include ordinary expenses such as mileage, phone, postage
etc. Extraordinary expenses (long distance, collect calls, expert witnesses etc.)
must be approved by the court.
9. Exceptional fees and extraordinary expenses must be approved by court order
and attached to your voucher.
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