Louisiana

Indigent Defense Assistance Board

Minutes of the Board Meeting

8 October 1998

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

State Capitol Building—Wimberly Room

Members Present: Risley C. Triche, Chair; Thomas A. Casey, Vice-Chair; Michelle Ghetti; Addison K. Goff, IV; Wayne Lee; Robert McLeod; and Freddie Pitcher.

Ex Officio Members Present: Anthony Champagne and Henry Walker.

Staff Present: Jelpi P. Picou, Jr.

Call to Order and Opening Remarks. The meeting was called to order at 1:04 p.m. by the Chair, who welcomed members to the meeting of the Indigent Defense Assistance Board; roll call demonstrated that a quorum was present.

Approval of Minutes of Previous Meeting. Mr. Lee moved that the minutes of the May 14, 1998 meeting be approved. Mr. Goff seconded the motion, which passed without objection.

Review of District Assistance Fund Distributions. The staff distributed a working list of the districts eligible for district assistance and the preliminary amounts each district could receive if an application was made and approved. No action was necessary on this calculation until the final caseload and financial records were forwarded to the staff from the eligible indigent defender boards.

Review of LIDAB Programs. The staff reviewed the capital, expert, and technical assistance programs, noting that the Board was within budget for each of these programs. There were several questions concerning the amount of money being spent on capital defense, which the staff explained was the result of increasing numbers of prosecutions, a stand-still budget, and prolonged cases that the Board was carrying from previous years.

There was also much discussion concerning capital post-conviction, including a letter written to the Board by District Attorney Doug Moreau requesting information on the Board's funding policy in this area. At Mr. McLeod's suggestion, the Chair directed the staff to prepare a letter to respond to Mr. Moreau's request.

The staff also noted that there were presently eight defendants on death row who did not have post-conviction counsel and that the LIDAB simply had no budget to cover the costs of representation. Mr. Pitcher opined that the Board, if it were responsible for covering these costs, might need to look for emergency funding from the state. Several members of the Board agreed that the LIDAB needed to study this issue closely and perhaps secure funding for these services.

Review of Operational Plan and Budget. The staff circulated a draft copy of the Board's Fiscal Year 1998-1999 continuation budget packet, with a total request of $10 million. The Board studied the proposed budget carefully and had questions concerning, among other items, the addition of one staff position and the request for post-conviction funding.

The staff explained that the addition of one position was a direct result of the demands made upon the office in relation to the Division of Administration procedures, the professional contracts law, and the reporting requirements of the Governor's Office.

The request for post-conviction funds, it was noted, included billing in post-conviction cases that were not being paid but that the staff felt would need to be satisfied if monies were forthcoming from the legislature. Thus the budget request included both past bills and expected billing in this area.

The Board completed its review of the preliminary budget proposal and recommended to the staff that it forward the final versions to the Board Chair and Finance Committee Chair.

Planning for Upcoming Legislative Session. The staff noted three areas of concern in the upcoming session: appropriations (discussed above), professional contracts law, and indigent defender board funding. The staff recommended that it be allowed to develop a proposal for removing the Board from the professional contracts provisions of the law to facilitate representation of indigents. It was explained that contracts would continue to be required between attorneys and the Board but would not need to be subject to administrative review by the Office of Contract Review. The Board discussed the matter and directed the staff to study the issue and report back at a later date.

The staff next presented the issue of court cost funding of indigent defender boards, noting that with recent changes in the law, the judges of a district had discretion to set the court costs for indigent defender boards between $17.50 and $30, with only five districts having raised those assessments to the maximum. It was noted that a change in the law, mandating a single figure, would make fee collections equitable throughout the state and produce additional revenue for the district boards. After several questions on this issue, the staff noted that it was not advocating a raise in the amount of court costs, only a single amount across the board. The Board directed the staff to study the issue further and report back at a later date.

Other Business. The Chair noted that Representative Audrey McCain had been invited to the meeting to discuss the legislative study committee on capital post-conviction but had been delayed by an emergency. The Chair directed the staff to invite Representative McCain to the next meeting and also to invite James Looney, Esq., the Director of the Louisiana Appellate Project, for an update on that Project's work.

Scheduling of the next meeting was discussed, with the Chair directing that the next meeting be held on Thursday, December 3, 1998 at a place in New Orleans. The staff stated that it would send out notices.

Adjournment. There being no additional business brought to the attention of the Board, the Chair entertained a motion to adjourn, which was seconded and passed without objection.