Determining Eligibility for Appointed Counsel in New York State:
A Report from the Public Defense Backup Center (1994)



XII. VERIFICATION OF FINANCIAL STATUS MAY UNDERMINE TIMELY APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL

Procedures for verifying financial information provided by defendants seeking appointed counsel can result in extended delay in appointment of counsel, and the denial of appointment to defendants who are ultimately determined to be eligible. The desire to verify financial data should never interfere with the timely appointment of counsel. [26]

A national study on eligibility [27] conducted in 1986 concluded that verification of all financial information in each application for appointed counsel wastes scarce resources and causes unnecessary delay in the proceedings. The study recommended that eligibility information be verified only when financial data is missing or when there are legitimate grounds to suspect it is inaccurate.

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Footnotes:

26 In People v. Edward McKiernan, No. 926072N (Sup. Ct. App. Term, April 28, 1993), denial of appointed counsel was premised not on Mr. McKiernan's financial ineligibility, but rather on his purported failure to provide verification of the financial information he supplied to the Defense Counsel Screening Bureau. RETURN to Document

27 National Institute of Justice, Containing the Costs of Indigent Defense Programs: Eligibility Screening and Cost Recovery Procedures (September 1986). RETURN to Document