Opinion ID: 853267
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Indigence

Text: In Moore v. State, 273 Ind. 3, 7, 401 N.E.2d 676, 678-79 (1980), this Court discussed at length several factors to be considered when determining whether a party is indigent: First, it appears clear that the defendant does not have to be totally without means to be entitled to counsel.... The determination as to the defendant's indigency is not to be made on a superficial examination of income and ownership of property but must be based on as thorough an examination of the defendant's total financial picture as is practical. The record must show that the determination of ability to pay includes a balancing of assets against liabilities and a consideration of the amount of the defendant's disposable income or other resources reasonably available to him after the payment of his fixed or certain obligations. B. Sufficient Means to Prosecute or Defend Whether the applicant has sufficient means goes beyond a mere snapshot of the applicant's financial status. Rather, the court must examine the applicant's status in relation to the type of action before it. Cf. Campbell, 605 N.E.2d at 159 ([T]he standard governing a finding of indigency is closely related to the purpose for which the status is sought.). If the action is of the kind that is often handled by persons of means without counsel, the court may find that even an indigent applicant has sufficient means to proceed without appointed counsel. For example, many forms of small claims actions are typically prosecuted and defended pro se even by persons of means. Similarly, cases that have their own ability to fund counsel are another general category where appointed counsel may be inappropriate. The marketplace for lawyer services can value cases often handled on a contingent fee basis. The same is true of litigation governed by fee shifting statutes. In these cases, an indigent may well be found to have sufficient means to prosecute or defend the action. We do not mean to create blanket categories of cases in which counsel should never be appointed. Rather, the court should look to the particular issues presented in the action and make a determination of whether the indigent applicant requires appointed counsel. A routine landlord-tenant dispute may present such straightforward issues that the ordinary litigant requires no counsel. In such a dispute, the indigent applicant has sufficient means to prosecute or defend the action without appointed counsel. On the other hand, the same dispute might present complexities or involve such significant precedent that proceeding pro se would disadvantage the ordinary litigant, and appointed counsel may be appropriate.