Opinion ID: 1384715
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: assessment of attorney fees under the public defender act

Text: As a separate condition of probation, the trial court ordered appellant to reimburse the State and Campbell County for services provided by the court-appointed public defender. The following provisions of the Wyoming Public Defender Act, as it existed when appellant was sentenced, addressed the subject of payment and reimbursement of attorney fees by indigent defendants: Section 7-1-110. Right to attorney; cost; other rights. (a) A needy person who is being detained by a law enforcement officer, or who is under formal charge of having committed, or is being detained under a conviction of, a serious crime, is entitled: (i) To be represented by an attorney to the same extent as a person having his own counsel if so entitled; and (ii) To be provided with the necessary services and facilities of representation (including investigation and other preparation). (b) The attorney, services and facilities, and court costs shall be provided at public expense to the extent that the person, at the time the court determines need, is unable to provide for their payment. Section 7-1-112. Determination of needy person. (a) Determination of whether a person covered by W.S. 7-9.20 [§ 7-1-110] is a needy person shall be deferred until his first appearance in court or in a suit for payment or reimbursement under W.S. 7-9.24 [§ 7-1-114], whichever occurs earlier. Thereafter, the court concerned shall determine, with respect to each proceeding, whether he is a needy person.       (c) To the extent that a person covered by W.S. 7-9.20 [§ 7-1-110] is able to provide for an attorney, the other necessary services and facilities or representation, and court costs, the court may order him to provide for their payment. Section 7-1-114. Recovery of payment. (a) The attorney general may, by suit within six (6) years after the date the services were rendered, on behalf of the state, recover payment or reimbursement, as the case may be, from each person who has received legal assistance or another benefit under this act: (i) To which he was not entitled; (ii) With respect to which he was not a needy person when he received it; or (iii) With respect to which he has failed to make the certification required by W.S. 7-9.22(b) [§ 7-1-112(b)]. (b) Amount recovered under this section shall be paid into the state general fund. The quoted provisions clearly indicate that those persons who seek assistance under the Act may be required to pay for services and costs to the extent that they are able to pay at the time assistance is requested. This requirement may be enforced by court order at the time the court determines need. The need referred to is need at the time assistance is requested. Such need may be determined either at the defendant's first appearance, some later time, or in a suit by the State under § 7-1-114. At appellant's arraignment the trial court ordered appellant to repay the state for the costs of the public defender at the rate of $50 per month. The question we face is whether this order was improperly incorporated into appellant's sentence as a condition of probation. When appellant was sentenced, the Public Defender Act contained its own enforcement provisions, none of which contemplated criminal sanctions for noncompliance. [5] As we interpret the Act as it then existed, any liability for payment or reimbursement constituted a civil debt; and an order entered pursuant to the Act was not a proper element of the sentencing proceeding. We hold that the district court erred by requiring appellant to reimburse the State for the services of her public defender as a condition of her probation. Affirmed as modified.