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The Dallas County Court (misdemeanor) indigent defense plan adopted by the County Criminal Court and County Criminal Court of Appeals judges under CCP Art. 26.04 (TIDC-registered; preamble dated June 9, 2025): 48-hour magistration and 24-hour transmission deadlines, the 150%-of-poverty/$15,000-asset indigence standard with benefits-based eligibility, one-working-day appointment, wheel qualifications (CLE with the immigration requirement, experience tracks, quarterly list updates, the 250-appointments-per-year ceiling), the confirm-receipt and initial-contact clocks, no case trading, removal and reinstatement procedures, and the electronic voucher regime with fee appeals to the First Administrative Judicial Region's presiding judge.
Texas > Dallas County > the County Criminal Courts and County Criminal Courts of Appeals (all misdemeanor courts giving preference to criminal cases) — the Art. 26.04 plan governing appointed-counsel practice; TIDC-registered (Plan ID 287) and linked from the county's court pages; fee-voucher appeals route to the First Administrative Judicial Region's presiding judge
MAGISTRATION: every arrestee is brought before a magistrate "without unnecessary delay, but no later than 48 hours after arrest" for indigence screening, with the full Art. 15.17 admonishments (interpreter per Arts. 38.30/38.31 where needed) and a written or recorded record of the counsel-request colloquy; the magistrate transmits counsel-request forms to the appointing authority "not later than 24 hours after the person arrested requests appointment of counsel"; out-of-county-warrant arrestees are assisted and their requests forwarded within 24 hours; bond releasees may request counsel through the assigned court's coordinator or the Criminal Court Manager's Office. INDIGENCE STANDARD: sworn financial questionnaire (confidential, filed electronically in the Indigent Defense System) plus examination; the court may not consider ability to post bail except as it reflects the enumerated financial factors; "indigent" means household income at or below 150% of the Federal Poverty Level with available assets not exceeding $15,000, or current receipt of Food Stamps, Medicaid, Public Housing, SSI, or TANF; above-threshold defendants may qualify on special circumstances (extraordinary medical expenses, case complexity, defense cost, retention efforts); indigence is presumed to continue absent a material change (Art. 26.04(p)); reimbursement of defense costs may be ordered per Art. 26.05, and the standards extend to investigation and expert-expense approvals. PROMPT APPOINTMENT: requests are transmitted to the court within 24 hours and "Counsel shall be appointed for eligible defendants within one working day of the Court's receipt"; the court may not steer an unrepresented defendant to the State's attorney before advising of the right to counsel; out-of-county misdemeanor-warrant detainees not transferred or released by the 11th day after arrest receive immediately appointed counsel for Chapter 11 and 17 matters; pre-appearance requests run through the TIDC forms and the county's indigent-defense email. WHEEL QUALIFICATIONS: State Bar good standing; staffed local contact and 24-hour fax/email; sworn application approved by the judges and reviewed by the Misdemeanor Wheel Attorney Committee; licensed at least one year; Dallas County residence or office; Indigent Defense Portal training; annual CLE filed by January 15 — at least six hours of criminal law plus immigration CLE (three hours to apply; one hour annually thereafter), none self-study; experience via a law-school criminal clinic (within 30 months) or designated trial-advocacy course, or lead counsel in two class-B-or-higher criminal jury trials, or co-counsel in three within ten years, or prosecutor/public-defender employment within three years; appellate applicants must have authored at least three appellate briefs. DISTRIBUTION: appointments issue from the electronic Indigent Defense System list, updated quarterly (application deadlines March 1, June 1, September 1, December 1); appointment within 24 hours of request; counsel remains through disposition or appeal; "Each Attorney should not receive no more than 250 [appointments] per year" (as printed); the system gives priority appointment to the public defender's office; language-matched appointments where available; computer rotation varies only for documented good cause or existing representation of the same defendant. DUTIES: no case transfers or trades — substitutes only for pre-approved docket appearances or consummating a negotiated settlement with court and defendant approval; "confirm receipt" in the portal by 10:00 a.m. the next business day or the appointment is not received (ten failures in a fiscal year draws committee review; the button is not a docket-management device); initial client contact within 24 hours of notice and, for jailed defendants, a personal interview (video permitted) within three business days, with contact dates logged before any voucher; conflict counsel must formally withdraw; withdrawal requires a motion plus a simultaneous voucher (minimum $50 on immediate withdrawal); annual practice-time statement to TIDC by October 15. REMOVAL: mandatory for felony or moral-turpitude conviction or deferred adjudication, pending indictment, or intentional application misrepresentation; discretionary for failure of duty, ineffective-assistance findings, noncompliance, false claims after hearing, excessive tardiness, disbarment or suspension, or ten confirm-receipt failures; removal runs at least one quarter (probatable, with rehabilitative conditions), by majority vote of the seven County Criminal Court and Criminal Court of Appeals judges for wheel removal; email warning and a written hearing request available; reinstatement on proof of dismissal or acquittal for charge-based removals. FEES: compensation per the judges' fee schedule; sworn electronic vouchers (with initial-contact and disposition data) are the exclusive payment and case-closing channel, including for public defenders; partial-payment vouchers available on ongoing cases; substituted-out counsel may voucher work performed; the auditor pays only listed attorneys; on disapproval the judge enters findings, and counsel "may appeal the judge's decision by filing a motion with the Presiding Judge of the First Administrative Judicial Region"; expenses over $500 need prior approval, others are reimbursed if reasonably necessary and incurred (Art. 26.05). AMENDMENT: plan and fee-schedule amendments require "a two-thirds vote of the County Criminal Court Judges."
Reviewer note: Own-site capture of the TIDC-registered plan (tidc.tamu.edu ViewPlan 287, snapshot dated 06/09/25 in the capture; custody sha in the crawl ledger); the 250-appointment ceiling's double-negative print ("should not receive no more than 250") transcribed as printed and read as a 250 cap; section 4.9(c)–(d) are blank in the source; the plan's own document list (affidavit, fee schedule, voucher, practice-time forms, magistrate warning) lives on the TIDC page — the fee schedule itself is a separate instrument not captured in this crawl, named as a coverage note.
6 verbatim requirements on divisional requirements in GIUSEPPINA MIRANDA's division.
4 verbatim requirements on divisional requirements in HILARY CREARY's division.
2 verbatim requirements on divisional requirements in NATASHA DEPRIMO's division.