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Guidelines for the Award of Court Appointed Attorney's Fees, Investigation and Expert Witness Fees — Galveston County. The operative requirements are quoted verbatim from the governing document (registered/posted 2018-01-10); the document in custody is the controlling text.
Texas > Galveston County > District and County Courts (indigent defense)
LIMITED TERM ASSIGNMENT - DISTRICT COURT A 1st degree felony qualified attorney appointed by the court for a Limited Term Assignment as set out in Section XII of the Galveston County Plan adopted pursuant to the Texas Fair Defense Act will be paid at the rate of $230.00 per day. except that the appointed attorney shall be entitled to receive compensation under these guidelines for the continued representation of indigent defendants that extends beyond the Limited Term Assignment period. … Fee vouchers for a Limited Term Assignment shall include a list of cases, including case number(s), disposed of during the Limited Term Assignment. … LIMITED TERM ASSIGNMENT - COUNTY COURTS AT LAW An attorney appointed by the court for a Limited Term Assignment as set out in Section XII of the Galveston County Plan adopted pursuant to the Texas Fair Defense Act will be paid at a rate of $200.00 per day, except that the appointed attorney shall be entitled to receive compensation under these guidelines for the continued representation of indigent defendants that extends beyond the Limited Term Assignment period. … In those instances where one attorney appointed for a Limited Term Assignment is asked by the court to assume the cases for another attorney as a result of the second attorney's failure to appear, and provided the attorney handles more than 4 total cases for the day, the first attorney shall be paid the additional fee of$100 per day. … Fee vouchers for a Limited Term Assignment shall include a list of cases, including case number(s), disposed of during the Limited Term Assignment. … Fee vouchers identifying a minor child will be returned unpaid. … Travel time must be itemized to include the following: date of travel, distance traveled, destination (city) and, time spent traveling (not including time billed for work performed at destination) reason for travel (general). … Except for travel time and mileage, travel expenses must be itemized and a receipt is required. … Fee vouchers identifying a minor child will be returned unpaid. … If the court appointed attorney has spent more than 3.0 hours on the representation of the defendant, the attorney shall then prepare an itemized bill for those hours in excess of 3.0 hours and present a voucher to the court at a rate of $75.00 per hour. • Except as otherwise provided herein, travel time by the attorney will not be paid. • Galveston County exercises a general rule that a defendant's misdemeanor case(s) are removed from the active docket if and while the same defendant's felony case(s) is pending. … Attorneys will not be paid for unnecessary/unscheduled visits/communication with the misdemeanor court while the defendant's felony case remains pending. • Vouchers for payment of investigation and/or expert witness expenses will be approved only if prior court approval was secured for incurring these expenses, and a proper invoice is attached to the Investigator and/or Expert Witness voucher. … Payment for investigation and/or expert witnesses will be paid directly to the investigator/expert by the County. • Appointments are attorney specific and not an appointment to a firm or office. … An attorney may not act as a substitute for an attorney appointed by the court unless the attorney is qualified under the Galveston County Plan and prior approval is given by the court. … Fees for services performed without prior approval shall not be paid. • The judge of any court may adjust or disapprove the monetary award requested by a court appointed attorney. … If the judge disapproves the requested amount of payment, the judge shall make a written finding stating the amount of payment approved and the reason(s) for approving an amount different than the requested amount. … Vouchers or claims for payment of attorney's fees within these guidelines must be timely submitted to the judge of the proper court according to time frames set out in Section XVI of the Galveston County Plan under the Texas Fair Defense Act. … Vouchers for attorney's fees not timely submitted shall be considered waived, the services performed Pro Bono, and the request for payment of attorney's fee shall not be paid. • Fee vouchers not providing required case information, including defendant name, case number(s), court name, offense, offense level and disposition shall not be paid. • Itemized bills are paid in 15 minutes increments. … Fee vouchers requesting payment for individual events calculated at less than 15 minutes shall not be paid. • Except as provided herein, intermittent billing is not permitted. … Fee vouchers identifying a minor child will be returned unpaid. • Requests for "research" must be defined as "case related legal research" or "review/gather specific case law". … JUDICIAL ECONOMY If an attorney is appointed to represent a single defendant on multiple pending charges, the attorney shall submit a single fee voucher upon disposition of all cases resolved as part of a conditional plea bargain.. …
Reviewer note: Operative mandatory-language provisions quoted verbatim from the posted document; the full document (sha256 fd75de9b859f…) is the controlling text. The county site (district-court-administration indigent-defense channel) and TOPICs doc 2055 carry the fee guidelines; this posting is the controlling text.
Tenth (10th) Court of Appeals — Standing Order No. 1, as registered in the statewide TOPICs local-rules registry (posted 01/01/2023). The operative requirements are quoted verbatim; the registered document is the controlling text.
Tenth (10th) Court of Appeals — Standing Order No. 2, as registered in the statewide TOPICs local-rules registry (posted 01/01/2023). The operative requirements are quoted verbatim; the registered document is the controlling text.