Texas Lawyer has this update on new model for legal representation in Lubbock ("First Private Criminal Defender Program in Texas to Commence," January 8, 2009):
"A first-of-its-kind program in Texas is scheduled to open Jan. 15 in Lubbock, providing specially trained private practitioners to represent indigent criminal defendants who are mentally ill or retarded.
Philip Wischkaemper , a Lubbock Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (LCDLA) member who helped develop the program, says, 'It's the first private defender service in the state.'
Private attorneys appointed by the director of the Lubbock Special Needs Defenders' Office, a nonprofit corporation formed by the LCDLA in October, will represent the indigent clients, says Lubbock solo Ted Hogan, a member of the corporation's board of directors.
On Dec. 22, the Lubbock County Commissioners Court approved a contract with the corporation to run the program. Precinct 4 Commissioner Patti Jones says the commissioners see the program as a way to ensure that jailed indigents with mental health issues receive legal assistance within 24 hours after they are arrested, so they can receive the services they need. 'That's been a void in the system,' Jones says.
On June 18, the Texas Task Force on Indigent Defense awarded a state-funded four-year grant totaling $419,360 to Lubbock County to set up the program.
David Slayton, Lubbock County's director of court administration, says the amount of state funding for the program will decrease in increments over the first four years of operations as the amount the county provides increases. In the fifth year, the county will assume full responsibility for funding the
program, Slayton says.
Hogan says the county will pay lawyers who represent mentally impaired clients, but the Special Needs Defenders' Office director will review the bills that the attorneys submit for payment.
Wischkaemper, the capital assistance attorney for the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association , says a peer review committee will determine which attorney applicants qualify for appointments.
Attorneys seeking appointments through the new program must complete a minimum of 12 hours of continuing legal education on mental health issues in addition to CLE hours in criminal law, Wischkaemper says.
***
Earlier posts on this topic are available here, here and here.
Showing posts with label legal representation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label legal representation. Show all posts
Friday, January 9, 2009
Monday, August 18, 2008
More on the Private Mental Health Defender's Office in Lubbock
Texas Lawyer reports that the Lubbock Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (LCDLA) aims this fall to create a private defender's office that will represent indigent defendants with mental health issues ("First and Goal: LCDLA Close to Creating Nonprofit to Run Private Defender's Office," August 11, 2008). The Texas Task Force on Indigent Defense awarded the county a four-year, $407,000 matching grant to start the office.
Here's an excerpt from the article:
"Concerned that mentally impaired indigents too often languish in their jail, Lubbock County officials are trying a new approach - a private defender's office. It's a hybrid; a cross between a public defender's office and the assigned counsel system used in most Texas counties.
Lubbock solo Ted Hogan says the Lubbock Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (LCDLA) is creating a nonprofit entity that will seek to contract with the county to run the private defender's office, which will assign attorneys in private practice to represent indigent defendants who are mentally ill or retarded. The courts would no longer appoint attorneys in those cases.
David Slayton, Lubbock County's director of court administration, says the County Commissioners Court will decide Aug. 25 whether the county can negotiate a contract with the LCDLA's nonprofit entity without going through a formal bidding process. The aim is to get the private defender's office up and running this fall.
'This literally is the first of its type in Texas,' says James D. 'Jim' Bethke, director of the Texas Task Force on Indigent Defense, of the office being developed in Lubbock.
Bethke says he originally talked to Lubbock County officials and the criminal-defense bar about starting a public defender's office for mental health, but the idea did not generate much enthusiasm.
Slayton says a public defender's office would provide possibly two or three attorneys to represent indigents with mental health issues. The private defender's office will have access to attorneys in the private defense bar, and between 10 and 15 attorneys are expected to take the cases, he says.
In April 2007, Travis County opened the first stand-alone public defender's office for mental health cases. Jeanette Kinard, director of the Travis County Mental Health Public Defender, says her office is part of county government.
Kinard says her office, which has two attorneys, two social workers, two caseworkers and support staff, handles only misdemeanor cases for clients with certain types of mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, major depression and bipolar disorder.
The office is funded to handle 500 misdemeanor cases a year, Kinard says. 'I think we'll end up with 400, which will be a more reasonable caseload,' she says.
Lubbock County is familiar with the concept of a public defender's office. Opened in late 2007, the West Texas Regional Public Defender's Office for Capital Murder Cases is based in Lubbock but serves 85 counties, extending from the Panhandle to Central Texas. Slayton says that since there are substantially fewer capital murder cases than other types of cases, the private defender's office for mental health is expected to have a bigger impact than the regional public defender's office.
The jail incarcerates about 13,000 inmates a year, Slayton says. Even with a conservative estimate that 10 percent of the inmates are mentally impaired, that would be about 1,300 cases, he says.
Bethke says a public defender's office is a governmental entity that employs lawyers whom a court can appoint to represent indigent defendants.
In contrast, a nonprofit entity will run the private defender's office in Lubbock County, and that entity will assign private practice attorneys to handle the cases, Bethke says.
Philip Wischkaemper, an LCDLA member and the capital assistance attorney for the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, says attorneys who want mental health case assignments will go through an application process in which a five-member peer review committee will scrutinize their experience and qualifications. Wischkaemper says he selected the committee members - with the agreement of LCDLA president Laurie Key - based on the fact that all of them are well-respected in Lubbock and do not take court appointments, especially in mental health cases. The peer review committee - made up of former U.S.Magistrate Judge J.Q. Warnick and criminal-defense attorneys Bill Wischkaemper (Philip Wischkaemper's brother), Charles "Chuck" Lanehart, Danny Hurley and Floyd Holder Jr. - also will monitor the performance of the attorneys assigned to represent indigent defendants with mental health problems, Philip Wischkaemper says. All the peer review committee members, except Warnick, are LCDLA members, he says. Key could not be reached for comment.
Wischkaemper says the LCDLA held a meeting of its membership after Bethke suggested the creation of a private defender's office in Lubbock. The association formed a committee of members to work on the project, Wischkaemper says.
Hogan, the LCDLA's point man for the project, says, 'The hope is in the long run we can set this up so it will run more efficiently than a public defender system or that the county can do with an assigned-counsel system.'
Lubbock County Judge Tom Head says county officials are 'very much in support' of the private defender's office, because they believe it will help keep the mentally impaired out of the jail. Head says inmates with mental health or mental retardation issues could make up as much as one-third of the jail population, although Hogan estimates their numbers at closer to 20 percent to 25 percent.
Drue Farmer, judge of Lubbock County Court-at-Law No. 2, is another supporter of the private defender concept, because the private-practice attorneys who will be assigned to represent mentally impaired indigents must receive training on how to recognize different types of mental illnesses as well as on competency and insanity issues. 'We felt like it was very important to have counsel specially trained to handle these cases,' she says.
Farmer says Lubbock County currently has a mental health wheel from which judges appoint attorneys. But while training on mental health issues is available to the attorneys on the wheel, their participation in the training is voluntary, she says.
Hogan says attorneys who currently represent mentally impaired indigents 'aren't sitting on their hands' while their clients sit in jail. But Hogan notes the attorneys don't have the resources to adequately serve these clients, who he says can take up an inordinate amount of attorneys' time.
The private defender's office should be able to represent mentally ill or retarded clients more efficiently, Hogan says. As planned, he says, the office will hire one lawyer who will serve as a full-time administrator. Two investigators/social workers also will be in the office to work with the mentally impaired clients, assisting them in meeting basic needs, such as finding housing and obtaining food stamps or checking on their whereabouts when they are scheduled for court appearances.
Hogan says many of the indigents with mental health issues are homeless and it has been difficult for attorneys to keep up with them. 'It's like herding cats,' he says.
Also as part of the office, the county will employ professional mental health workers who will screen jail inmates for mental illness or retardation and identify those who possibly could be diverted from the criminal justice system to treatment facilities. ..."
***
The article goes on to describe the model for this private defender program and provides information about other innovative approaches to mental health issues in Lubbock County. This includes a partnership between Lubbock Regional Mental Health and Mental Retardation and jail staff that aims to provide services to inmates with mental health issues and, ultimately, divert them from the corrections system altogether.
Read the full article.
Earlier posts on this program are available here and here.
Here's an excerpt from the article:
"Concerned that mentally impaired indigents too often languish in their jail, Lubbock County officials are trying a new approach - a private defender's office. It's a hybrid; a cross between a public defender's office and the assigned counsel system used in most Texas counties.
Lubbock solo Ted Hogan says the Lubbock Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (LCDLA) is creating a nonprofit entity that will seek to contract with the county to run the private defender's office, which will assign attorneys in private practice to represent indigent defendants who are mentally ill or retarded. The courts would no longer appoint attorneys in those cases.
David Slayton, Lubbock County's director of court administration, says the County Commissioners Court will decide Aug. 25 whether the county can negotiate a contract with the LCDLA's nonprofit entity without going through a formal bidding process. The aim is to get the private defender's office up and running this fall.
'This literally is the first of its type in Texas,' says James D. 'Jim' Bethke, director of the Texas Task Force on Indigent Defense, of the office being developed in Lubbock.
Bethke says he originally talked to Lubbock County officials and the criminal-defense bar about starting a public defender's office for mental health, but the idea did not generate much enthusiasm.
Slayton says a public defender's office would provide possibly two or three attorneys to represent indigents with mental health issues. The private defender's office will have access to attorneys in the private defense bar, and between 10 and 15 attorneys are expected to take the cases, he says.
In April 2007, Travis County opened the first stand-alone public defender's office for mental health cases. Jeanette Kinard, director of the Travis County Mental Health Public Defender, says her office is part of county government.
Kinard says her office, which has two attorneys, two social workers, two caseworkers and support staff, handles only misdemeanor cases for clients with certain types of mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, major depression and bipolar disorder.
The office is funded to handle 500 misdemeanor cases a year, Kinard says. 'I think we'll end up with 400, which will be a more reasonable caseload,' she says.
Lubbock County is familiar with the concept of a public defender's office. Opened in late 2007, the West Texas Regional Public Defender's Office for Capital Murder Cases is based in Lubbock but serves 85 counties, extending from the Panhandle to Central Texas. Slayton says that since there are substantially fewer capital murder cases than other types of cases, the private defender's office for mental health is expected to have a bigger impact than the regional public defender's office.
The jail incarcerates about 13,000 inmates a year, Slayton says. Even with a conservative estimate that 10 percent of the inmates are mentally impaired, that would be about 1,300 cases, he says.
Bethke says a public defender's office is a governmental entity that employs lawyers whom a court can appoint to represent indigent defendants.
In contrast, a nonprofit entity will run the private defender's office in Lubbock County, and that entity will assign private practice attorneys to handle the cases, Bethke says.
Philip Wischkaemper, an LCDLA member and the capital assistance attorney for the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, says attorneys who want mental health case assignments will go through an application process in which a five-member peer review committee will scrutinize their experience and qualifications. Wischkaemper says he selected the committee members - with the agreement of LCDLA president Laurie Key - based on the fact that all of them are well-respected in Lubbock and do not take court appointments, especially in mental health cases. The peer review committee - made up of former U.S.Magistrate Judge J.Q. Warnick and criminal-defense attorneys Bill Wischkaemper (Philip Wischkaemper's brother), Charles "Chuck" Lanehart, Danny Hurley and Floyd Holder Jr. - also will monitor the performance of the attorneys assigned to represent indigent defendants with mental health problems, Philip Wischkaemper says. All the peer review committee members, except Warnick, are LCDLA members, he says. Key could not be reached for comment.
Wischkaemper says the LCDLA held a meeting of its membership after Bethke suggested the creation of a private defender's office in Lubbock. The association formed a committee of members to work on the project, Wischkaemper says.
Hogan, the LCDLA's point man for the project, says, 'The hope is in the long run we can set this up so it will run more efficiently than a public defender system or that the county can do with an assigned-counsel system.'
Lubbock County Judge Tom Head says county officials are 'very much in support' of the private defender's office, because they believe it will help keep the mentally impaired out of the jail. Head says inmates with mental health or mental retardation issues could make up as much as one-third of the jail population, although Hogan estimates their numbers at closer to 20 percent to 25 percent.
Drue Farmer, judge of Lubbock County Court-at-Law No. 2, is another supporter of the private defender concept, because the private-practice attorneys who will be assigned to represent mentally impaired indigents must receive training on how to recognize different types of mental illnesses as well as on competency and insanity issues. 'We felt like it was very important to have counsel specially trained to handle these cases,' she says.
Farmer says Lubbock County currently has a mental health wheel from which judges appoint attorneys. But while training on mental health issues is available to the attorneys on the wheel, their participation in the training is voluntary, she says.
Hogan says attorneys who currently represent mentally impaired indigents 'aren't sitting on their hands' while their clients sit in jail. But Hogan notes the attorneys don't have the resources to adequately serve these clients, who he says can take up an inordinate amount of attorneys' time.
The private defender's office should be able to represent mentally ill or retarded clients more efficiently, Hogan says. As planned, he says, the office will hire one lawyer who will serve as a full-time administrator. Two investigators/social workers also will be in the office to work with the mentally impaired clients, assisting them in meeting basic needs, such as finding housing and obtaining food stamps or checking on their whereabouts when they are scheduled for court appearances.
Hogan says many of the indigents with mental health issues are homeless and it has been difficult for attorneys to keep up with them. 'It's like herding cats,' he says.
Also as part of the office, the county will employ professional mental health workers who will screen jail inmates for mental illness or retardation and identify those who possibly could be diverted from the criminal justice system to treatment facilities. ..."
***
The article goes on to describe the model for this private defender program and provides information about other innovative approaches to mental health issues in Lubbock County. This includes a partnership between Lubbock Regional Mental Health and Mental Retardation and jail staff that aims to provide services to inmates with mental health issues and, ultimately, divert them from the corrections system altogether.
Read the full article.
Earlier posts on this program are available here and here.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
New Private Mental Health Defenders Office in Lubbock
KCBD, NewsChannel 11 in Lubbock reports that officials in Lubbock County have received funding for a new program aimed at diverting offenders with mental illness from jail and providing them with quality legal representation ("New Program Addresses Lubbock County Inmate Mental Health," July 10, 2008). While both Travis and Bexar Counties provide public mental health defenders to those who have committed misdemeanor offenses, Lubbock's Private Mental Health Defenders office will be the first of its kind in Texas. The program will use county funds to pay a nonprofit organization to oversee cases defended by private attorneys
Here's the full story:
"Efforts are underway in Lubbock County to save taxpayers money and increase public safety. A $400,000 state grant will help Lubbock County open a Private Mental Health Defenders office. The goal is to address the mental health of Lubbock County inmates could save the county thousands of dollars at the same time.
If you commit a crime in the Hub City, you will most likely end up in the Lubbock County Jail. But Lubbock County Director of Court Administration David Slayton says, for some, crime is a by-product of mental health illness. 'These individuals need help, we understand that but we don't want there to be a public safety risk by releasing them back out on the street. To figure out how to best deal within the justice system has been really tricky,' Slayton said.
Slayton says, come this fall, the county will try something new - a Private Mental Health Defenders office. The office initially will be funded mostly by the state, but by the fifth year Lubbock County will pick up the entire bill. '[What] We anticipate is the savings in the jail cost will be enough to pay for this over, probably multiple times over,' Slayton added.
The state grant will put experts in the jail to help identify inmates with mental health issues. Something Sheriff David Gutierrez says will help the problem. 'We as sheriffs have had problems throughout the decades with mental health issues in the jail. The reality is that now we are trying to bring this across through the judicial system to identify them prior to intake,' Sheriff Gutierrez said.
Slayton says as part of the program the court will have the option to appoint specially trained attorneys to defend those identified with mental health problems.
Defense Attorney Ted Hogan says it will help move people more efficiently through the court system. 'It's a way of dealing with folks that aren't your traditional criminals. Helping folks get back on their feet who hopefully don't come back and enable us to do it much more efficiently than what the old system has allowed us to do,' Hogan added.
The idea, and its potential savings, has some Lubbock County commissioner's support. 'Take the grant money and do what needs to be done. Take care of these folks and give them [sic] learned council and keep those folks from possibly going to jail which will save us tax dollars,' Commissioner Bill McCay said.
But not all are in support. District Attorney Matt Powell tells NewsChannel 11 his office is already taking steps to make sure those with mental issues have good representation.
Still Slayton says many could benefit from the new office. 'It's good from the perspective of the tax payer, it's good for the defendant and they can get the mental help they need with their mental illness,' Slayton added.
This will be the first program of its kind in the state and one of the few in the country. It's expected to be up and running by the beginning of October."
***
An earlier post about this program is available here.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
New Model for Legal Representation Under Consideration in West Texas
The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reports that more advances in legal representation are in the works for West Texas ("Lubbock County commissioners seek grant for mental health defense system", April 26, 2008). Last year, state and local leaders created the West Texas Regional Public Defender for Capital Murder Cases, the only office of its kind in Texas. Representing 85 counties in West Texas, the office is based in Lubbock and is charged with providing quality representation to indigent defendants facing the death penalty. The office consists of the chief public defender and a 10-member staff, which eventually will include four additional attorneys with specialized training in capital cases and two investigators.
The Public Defender’s office was established through a grant from the Texas Task Force on Indigent Defense, with support from Senators Duncan, Ellis, and Kel Seliger, as well as Rep. Aaron Pena. The state will pay for the office for the first year; the 85 counties will increase their contributions in subsequent years and will assume the entire cost by 2012. The office is intended to assist counties with the high costs associated with death penalty trials.
Local leaders now have turned their attention to addressing the need for legal representation for offenders with mental illness:
"Lubbock County is one step closer to implementing a new system for defending the mentally impaired accused of crimes.
Lubbock County commissioners on Friday agreed to apply for a grant that would help fund the establishment of a private defender for mental health offenders. The office, which would be the first of its kind in Texas, would use county funds to pay a nonprofit organization to oversee cases defended by private attorneys.
'This will actually save money and address a critical issue,' said Bill McCay, Precinct 1 commissioner.
Commissioners noted in the Friday meeting concerns about the amount of time people are staying in jail before trial and said this office will help expedite the process for mental health offenders.
Establishing the office will save money by streamlining processes such as mental health screening, which was budgeted to be done by five screeners. This will in turn pay off by getting the people out of jail who don't need to be there, said Patti Jones, Precinct 4 commissioner.
There are no private defenders in Texas, said David Slayton, director of court administration and director of the mental health defender program.
If Lubbock receives the grant, it will start a new system, combining elements of the two existing defense systems in Lubbock County. Currently private attorneys are appointed to handle all non-death penalty cases on an ad hoc basis. Capital cases are handled by the new West Texas Regional Public Defenders Office of Capital Cases, also the first of its kind in Texas.
In a public defender system, the attorneys are actually county employees. The new system will be a convergence of ad hoc and public.
'It's 100 percent a marriage of the two,' Slayton said.
The private defenders office still will allow private attorneys to handle the cases of the mental health offenders, but the oversight will be done by a non-profit organization using county dollars to defend the accused.
Slayton said other counties in Texas are already looking to Lubbock County as a model for the capital public defenders and hopes the new office will likewise serve as a model.
'This is just another example of Lubbock County always looking for new and innovative ways to manage and do what we do,' McCay said.
Commissioners expect to know by June whether they received the grant."
***
In terms of other models of legal representation for mentally ill offenders, last year Travis County (Austin) established a Mental Health Public Defender Office, which represents offenders with mental illness in misdemeanor cases. Earlier this year, Bexar County (San Antonio) officials have hired four mental health public defenders. Bexar County also joined Dallas and El Paso Counties in establishing a mental health court that will address the needs of defendants with mental illness who come into contact with the criminal justice system.
The Public Defender’s office was established through a grant from the Texas Task Force on Indigent Defense, with support from Senators Duncan, Ellis, and Kel Seliger, as well as Rep. Aaron Pena. The state will pay for the office for the first year; the 85 counties will increase their contributions in subsequent years and will assume the entire cost by 2012. The office is intended to assist counties with the high costs associated with death penalty trials.
Local leaders now have turned their attention to addressing the need for legal representation for offenders with mental illness:
"Lubbock County is one step closer to implementing a new system for defending the mentally impaired accused of crimes.
Lubbock County commissioners on Friday agreed to apply for a grant that would help fund the establishment of a private defender for mental health offenders. The office, which would be the first of its kind in Texas, would use county funds to pay a nonprofit organization to oversee cases defended by private attorneys.
'This will actually save money and address a critical issue,' said Bill McCay, Precinct 1 commissioner.
Commissioners noted in the Friday meeting concerns about the amount of time people are staying in jail before trial and said this office will help expedite the process for mental health offenders.
Establishing the office will save money by streamlining processes such as mental health screening, which was budgeted to be done by five screeners. This will in turn pay off by getting the people out of jail who don't need to be there, said Patti Jones, Precinct 4 commissioner.
There are no private defenders in Texas, said David Slayton, director of court administration and director of the mental health defender program.
If Lubbock receives the grant, it will start a new system, combining elements of the two existing defense systems in Lubbock County. Currently private attorneys are appointed to handle all non-death penalty cases on an ad hoc basis. Capital cases are handled by the new West Texas Regional Public Defenders Office of Capital Cases, also the first of its kind in Texas.
In a public defender system, the attorneys are actually county employees. The new system will be a convergence of ad hoc and public.
'It's 100 percent a marriage of the two,' Slayton said.
The private defenders office still will allow private attorneys to handle the cases of the mental health offenders, but the oversight will be done by a non-profit organization using county dollars to defend the accused.
Slayton said other counties in Texas are already looking to Lubbock County as a model for the capital public defenders and hopes the new office will likewise serve as a model.
'This is just another example of Lubbock County always looking for new and innovative ways to manage and do what we do,' McCay said.
Commissioners expect to know by June whether they received the grant."
***
In terms of other models of legal representation for mentally ill offenders, last year Travis County (Austin) established a Mental Health Public Defender Office, which represents offenders with mental illness in misdemeanor cases. Earlier this year, Bexar County (San Antonio) officials have hired four mental health public defenders. Bexar County also joined Dallas and El Paso Counties in establishing a mental health court that will address the needs of defendants with mental illness who come into contact with the criminal justice system.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)