Bill would let city court run own defender’s office

The City Court of Morgan City may soon be able to run its own public defender’s office if the Legislature passes a bill that state Rep. Sam Jones, D-Franklin, pre-filed for the upcoming regular legislative session.
Jones pre-filed House Bill 689 that would put 30 per-cent of the funds the City Court of Morgan City collects into a special fund called the Morgan City Indigent Defender Fund, which would be dedicated to providing public defenders in city court.
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, who aren’t in jail, will be put on a wait list beginning March 31 to receive representation.
Morgan City court sends monthly fees to the district defender. In January, city court sent about $6,000 in fees to the district defender’s office, though the amount sent to the district defender varies each month, Stansbury said. Monthly fees paid to the district defender’s office in 2015 ranged from $3,375 to $7,460, according to documents Stansbury provided to The Daily Review.
District Defender Cecelia Bonin, who runs the 16th Judicial District public defender’s office, said last week she didn’t know how long defendants on the list may have to wait to get legal representation.
Bonin said she has to cut the office’s staff and services just to get through the fiscal year ending June 30.
The regular legislative session will convene Monday. The Legislature is currently in a special session to address the state’s budget shortfall.
City court handles misdemeanor and juvenile cases, and HB 689 intends to make sure there’s enough money to cover representation for all defendants who need it, Stansbury said.
Stansbury may suggest revisions to the bill after he does more research into exactly how much money city court would need to operate its own public defender fund, he said.
In 2015, city court handled a total 1,034 cases in which criminal charges were filed along with 1,965 traffic violations, and 192 juvenile cases, the documents stated.
Seventy-five to 80 percent of city court defendants request or meet the requirements to receive a public defender, Stansbury said. About 95 percent of juveniles can’t afford an attorney to represent them.
Stansbury wants the bill to just be a temporary fix until the district defender’s office can come up with a solution to provide public defenders to city court defendants.
But, until officials fix the district public defender system, Stansbury plans to make sure city court defend-ants have adequate representation through city court.