Criminal procedure: indigent defense compensation.

Assembly Member Schultz's indigent defense reform legislation overhauls how California counties contract for legal services for defendants who cannot afford private attorneys, establishing new requirements aimed at ensuring adequate resources for effective representation. The measure prohibits counties from using flat-fee arrangements that pay attorneys a fixed amount regardless of time spent on cases, a practice the bill's authors assert creates conflicts of interest that can compromise defense quality.

Beginning January 2027, counties must structure indigent defense contracts to explicitly link compensation to caseload volumes, using recent national workload studies to determine appropriate case limits. Contracts must allocate separate funding for support services like investigators and social workers, while providing mechanisms for attorneys to seek additional resources when cases require more time or expertise than initially anticipated. The legislation requires counties to submit their indigent defense contracts to the Office of the State Public Defender every two years for review.

The measure maintains existing requirements that courts first utilize public defenders when available, followed by contracted attorneys, before appointing other private counsel. It preserves provisions giving court-appointed attorneys and investigators the same access to case information as public defenders, while clarifying that this does not extend to confidential motor vehicle records or subpoena powers. Counties that determine the new contracting requirements create additional costs may seek reimbursement through the state mandate process.