Memorandum
Date: August 31, 2021
To: The Honorable Lake County Board of Supervisors
From: Carol J. Huchingson, County Administrative Officer
Subject: Consideration of Agreement for Operational Analysis of Indigent Defense Services
Executive Summary:
As your Board is aware, pursuant to State and Federal law, California counties are required to provide legal representation to indigent defendants who, in the opinion of the Court, do not have the financial resources to retain the services of a private attorney. As a result, Public Defender Services, also known as Indigent Defense Services, are budgeted in Budget Unit 2111, at a cost of $1,825,000 for Fiscal Year 2021-22. The General Fund provides the majority of funding. Pursuant to AB 109, the Public Safety Realignment Act and AB 118, Realignment 2011, the State provides funding for revocation hearings of Post-Release Community Supervision persons. For a number of years, services have been provided locally under contract, overseen by the Administrative Office.
There are a variety of models operational in California for these services and in May 2021, staff released a Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking to examine our program, including assessing services, analyzing costs and alternatives and making service recommendations. One proposal was received in response to our RFP, from Sixth Amendment Center, a non-partisan, non-profit organization experienced in assisting state and local policymakers to implement public defense systems that meet constitutional requirements while promoting public safety and fiscal responsibility.
Staff is familiar with the very similar work 6AC recently completed in Santa Cruz county. 6AC is well qualified to conduct the analysis here. At a cost of $57,800, 6AC will conduct an independent and objective evaluation of our services and compile an assessment report to include an analysis of alternatives and costs and recommendations for systemic improvement, completing the work...
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