County Commissioners Pick Indigent Defense Attorneys

Fayette County Commissioners Court signed contracts with four attorneys who agree to represent indigent clients in criminal cases in 2017 at a meeting on Monday, Dec. 12. 

Those attorneys will represent criminal defendants who cannot afford to hire an attorney. Previously the county contracted with three attorneys for the job.

The four attorneys contracted for 2017 are Morris Albers, Candice Clay, Richard Halpain and Luis Vallejo. Albers, Halpain and Vallejo previously held the contract. Clay joined the group this year.

The four attorneys will receive $36,300 annually for their services. The contracts stipulate that the four attorneys will split the indigent case load equally.

The county will spend the same total amount on indigent defense as it did last year, about $145,000. That total will be split by the attorneys four ways instead of three, as was the case in previous years.

The contract also stipulates that the county will reimburse the attorneys for “reasonable and necessary expenses, including expenses for investigation and for mental health and other experts.”