Morgan City defender bill passes Senate

A bill to allow the city court of Morgan City to run its own public defender’s office has passed the state Senate and is scheduled for floor debate Friday in the House of Representatives.
House Bill 689, filed by state Rep. Sam Jones, D-Franklin, passed the Senate Monday by a vote of 34-2.
HB 689 would allow city courts in Morgan City, Franklin, New Iberia, Jeanerette and Breaux Bridge to keep 30 percent of the fees they collect and hire their own public defender attorneys. The remaining 70 percent of funds would still go to the 16th Judicial District Public Defender’s Office.
Jones said he will decide Friday whether to accept an amendment to the bill that would give city courts the option to put 30 percent of fees collected into their own public defender’s fund instead of requiring the money to be deposited into the fund.
Morgan City City Court Judge Kim Stansbury asked Jones to file the bill in response to the 16th Judicial District Public Defender’s Office announcement that all defendants charged with a crime and who aren’t in jail would be put on a wait list to receive representation beginning March 31 because of a lack of funding.
Jones and state Sen. Bret Allain, R-Franklin, were instrumental in helping to get the bill out of committee, Stansbury said.
City court handles misdemeanor and juvenile cases, and HB 689 is intended to make sure there is enough money to cover representation for all defendants who need it, Stansbury said.
“We’re not in there saying we want all the money. We just want enough money to keep our courts operational,” Stansbury said.
In an email, 16th Judicial District Defender Cecelia Bonin, who runs the public defender’s office, said the bill “is completely unnecessary” as the district defender’s office has always provided one misdemeanor attorney and one juvenile attorney to each city court and intends to continue to do that through the 2017 fiscal year.
Bonin also said the bill is unconstitutional because the state constitution mandates a uniform system of indigent defense.
HB 689 diverts 30 percent of statutorily dedicated funds meant to go to the district defender’s office, Bonin said. That reduction in the district’s funds could be $80,000 to $90,000 per year, Bonin said.
In 2015, fees the city court of Morgan City paid to the district ranged from $3,375 to $7,460, according to information Stansbury provided The Daily Review. City court handled a total 1,034 cases in which criminal charges were filed along with 1,965 traffic violations and 192 juvenile cases in 2015.
Bonin said the bill puts the district office “at the mercy of local fluctuating funding,” and encourages 47 other city courts to create 47 more “mini indigent defense boards.”
According to the bill, it would create the Morgan City Indigent Defender Board to manage the funds. The board would consist of three members appointed by the Morgan City Council, St. Mary Parish Council and legislative delegation.
Stansbury said last week he testified before a Senate committee in favor of the bill. Stansbury said he learned in late March that officials found funding for this year to pay public defenders in the district’s city courts. But Stansbury is still concerned about the district restricting city court funds in future years, he said.