Law and Justice

The interaction and co-operation between the Court, Public Defender’s Office and Central Collections has created an effective system of collecting indigent defense fees owed the county. After a client’s case is resolved the sum of the fines, state fees and indigent defense fees are added together and this sum is collected over a three- to five-year period depending on the client’s ability to pay. As fees are collected they are paid out in a specific order: (1) Victim’s restitution (2) State Surcharge (3) Fines (4) Other Reimbursable Costs 48 Public Defender fees are in the “other reimbursable costs” and are among the last collected. Central Collections has tracked and reported that their collection rate is 70%-75%. They have several tools in place to collect delinquent accounts including wage garnishment and attachment of the individual’s state tax refund by the Franchise Tax Board.

The fees assessed in San Bernardino County for indigent defense Fee Type Calendar Year 2008 Calendar Year 2011 Misdemeanor $300 $100 Felony $500 $150 Juvenile $500 $500 The Grand Jury could not find the reason for this change. After a comparison to other counties, it appears that San Bernardino County charges for indigent defense are too low. Fees charged by some of the other California Counties for Indigent Defense Los Angeles $51 to $8,265 Lake County $100 to $4,000 Riverside $90/hour Del Norte $75/hour San Luis Obispo $65/hour Madera $33.50/hour