Amador County Superior Court — Penal Code Section 987.2 Appointed Service and Expenditure Rules, Funding Application and Payment Procedures (Board of Supervisors approval August 28, 2018)

Summary

The rules and procedures of the Superior Court of California, County of Amador and Amador County for ancillary defense services and expenditures for indigent defendants at government expense under Penal Code § 987.2 (Amador County Board of Supervisors approval 08/28/2018): all requests to comply with the Court’s Local Rules and these rules, prior express written approval of the Court required for all appointed services of investigators, experts and others, and no services or expenditures incurred without the previous written authorization of the Presiding Judge or designee; the allowable uses (investigators, experts including transcription services, legal runners for pro per defendants only, travel and special expenses as authorized by the Court) and the non-allowed uses; investigator services limited to actual investigative work, and no reimbursement for travel time or mileage more than 3 hours or 120 miles outside the County of Amador without the written authorization of the presiding judge in advance; legal runner services limited to photocopying and transporting materials, orders and motions, with the Amador County Legal Runner application and a background check by the Amador County Sheriff; a statement of indigence under penalty of perjury with the initial application (Penal Code §§987(c) and 987.8(b), Local Rule 6.20); applications submitted to the Presiding Judge, supported by a declaration of the circumstances, the status of the proceedings, the specific purpose and each provider’s name, title and maximum amount, with a billing rate consistent with the Court’s Appointed Services Fee Schedule, and a proposed order in the ex parte order format of Exhibit A; expert billing rates within the Fee Schedule unless a higher rate is specifically requested and supported (Local Rule of Court 6.20), an initial authorization for doctors, psychologists and similar experts sufficient for an initial written report, and transcription services at the lowest commercially-available rate; transportation orders for medical examinations; initial funding limited to $1000.00 for investigator services at $50/hr for non CDCR defendant cases and $57/hr for defendants housed in CDCR, and to $250 for legal runners; the same investigator for a defendant’s pro per cases, one (1) $20 phone card per month, and the Court’s Pro Per Investigator Panel of investigators with at least three (3) years of experience; the conflict panel’s prior approval for trust fund expenditures; subsequent applications with a declaration of the previous authorizations, billings, balance and work; overnight travel only with prior approval, and the declaration a request for travel expenses must contain; and claims submitted on the Court’s forms to the Court’s Collection Department within 60 days of completion of services, a penalty of ten percent (10%) of the claim amount per month, up to a maximum of twenty percent (20%), for a later claim, itemized in increments of 0.25 hours (15 minutes) with supporting documentation and a file stamped copy of the order, and signed by defense counsel or under penalty of perjury by the provider.