Page 11 - Juvenile Practice is not Child's Play

The Fair Defense Act and Its Implication for Youth Offenders

Two decades ago, Texas Appleseed report on the youth justice system in Texas, Selling Justice Short: Juvenile Indigent
Defense in Texas, outlined major areas of weakness, including limited attorney-client contact, pressure to plead, and
insufficient compensation to attorneys to conduct investigation and other supplemental case work. In response, during
the Texas 77th Legislative session, lawmakers focused on problems in the juvenile and adult indigent defense systems

and passed the Texas Fair Defense Act, comprehensive legislation that has been described as the most important
indigent defense reform in the country in the last quarter century. The law requires prompt appointment of counsel to
all indigent defendants and youth; qualification standards for attorney for each level of offense; a fair, neutral, and non-
discriminatory method of appointing counsel; consistent standards for indigence within counties; reasonable fee

schedules taking into account overhead costs of attorneys; appropriate provisions for experts and investigators; and
minimum standards for attorneys in capital cases. The legislature also appropriated almost $20 million in grant funds
for the biennium to supplement county spending, the first such infusion from the state.

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The Fair Defense Act requires that each county’s juvenile board adopt a plan for the appointment of counsel to youth
whose families are unable to afford counsel and sets out basic guidelines for the appointment process. The law also
requires qualification standards and a fee schedule that addresses juvenile appointments. In addition, it requires that

you make every reasonable effort to contact your client by the end of the first working day after the date on which you
were appointed, and interview your client as soon as practicable after you have been appointed.

The advent of the Fair Defense Act should mean that your county is moving toward a fair system of appointments to

qualified attorneys and that your fees are reasonable. It should mean that the process for getting experts and
investigators paid for in your appointed cases has improved. It should mean that only qualified attorneys are appointed
in youth cases, and that there are qualification requirements for various levels of youth appointments. If your county is

not improving on some of these fronts, you might want to contact the juvenile board and other local officials, or the
statewide Task Force on Indigent Defense, to determine the impediments to improvement. Efforts by local groups and
individuals to keep county officials on track will help speed the rate of progress across the state.

20 Each county has a corresponding Fair Defense Plan addressing the implementation of the Fair Defense Act. See e.g.
http://www.ccl.hctx.net/attorneys/FDA.htm; https://www.traviscountytx.gov/images/courts/Docs/fair_defense.pdf;
https://www.fairdefense.org/