600.090. Determination of ability to pay all or part of representation costs--lien for reasonable value of services, procedure--deposit of funds collected.
Determination of ability to pay all or part of representationcosts--lien for reasonable value of services, procedure--depositof funds collected.
600.090. 1. (1) If a person is determined to be eligiblefor the services provided by the state public defender system andif, at the time such determination is made, he is able to providea limited cash contribution toward the cost of his representationwithout imposing a substantial hardship upon himself or hisdependents, such contribution shall be required as a condition ofhis representation by the state public defender system.
(2) If at any time, either during or after the dispositionof his case, such defendant becomes financially able to meet allor some part of the cost of services rendered to him, he shall berequired to reimburse the commission in such amounts as he canreasonably pay, either by a single payment or by installments ofreasonable amounts, in accordance with a schedule of charges forpublic defender services prepared by the commission.
(3) No difficulty or failure in the making of such paymentshall reduce or in any way affect the rendering of publicdefender services to such persons.
2. (1) The reasonable value of the services rendered to adefendant pursuant to sections 600.011 to 600.048 and 600.086 to600.096 may in all cases be a lien on any and all property towhich the defendant shall have or acquire an interest. Thepublic defender shall effectuate such lien whenever thereasonable value of the services rendered to a defendant appearsto exceed one hundred fifty dollars and may effectuate such lienwhere the reasonable value of those services appears to be lessthan one hundred fifty dollars.
(2) To effectuate such a lien, the public defender shall,prior to the final disposition of the case or within ten daysthereafter, file a notice of lien setting forth the servicesrendered to the defendant and a claim for the reasonable value ofsuch services with the clerk of the circuit court. The defendantshall be personally served with a copy of such notice of lien.The court shall rule on whether all or any part of the claimshall be allowed. The portion of the claim approved by the courtas the value of defender services which has been provided to thedefendant shall be a judgment at law. The public defender shallnot be required to pay filing or recording fees for or relatingto such claim.
(3) Such judgment shall be enforceable in the name of thestate on behalf of the commission by the prosecuting attorney ofthe circuit in which the judgment was entered.
(4) The prosecuting attorney may compromise and makesettlement of, or, with the concurrence of the director, foregoany claims for services performed for any person pursuant to thischapter whenever the financial circumstances of such person aresuch that the best interests of the state will be served by suchaction.
3. The commission may contract with private attorneys forthe collection and enforcement of liens and other judgments owedto the state for services rendered by the state public defendersystem.
4. The lien created by this section shall be from the timefiled in the court by the defender a charge or claim against anyassets of the defendant; provided further that the same shall beserved upon the person in possession of the assets or shall berecorded in the office of the recorder of deeds in the county inwhich the person resides or in which the assets are located.
5. Funds collected pursuant to this section and section600.093 shall be credited to the "Legal Defense and DefenderFund" which is hereby created. The moneys credited to the legaldefense and defender fund shall be used for the purpose oftraining public defenders, assistant public defenders, deputypublic defenders and other personnel pursuant to subdivision (7)of subsection 1 of section 600.042, and may be used to pay forexpert witness fees, the costs of depositions, travel expensesincurred by witnesses in case preparation and trial, expensesincurred for changes of venue and for other lawful expenses asauthorized by the public defender commission.
6. The state treasurer shall be the custodian of the legaldefense and defender fund, moneys in the legal defense anddefender fund shall be deposited the same as are other statefunds, and any interest accruing to the legal defense anddefender fund shall be added to the legal defense and defenderfund. The legal defense and defender fund shall be subject toaudit, the same as other state funds and accounts, and shall beprotected by the general bond given by the state treasurer.
7. Upon the request of the director of the office of statepublic defender, the commissioner of administration shall approvedisbursements from the legal defense and defender fund. Thelegal defense and defender fund shall be funded annually byappropriation, but any unexpended balance in the fund at the endof the appropriation period not in excess of one hundred andfifty thousand dollars shall be exempt from the provisions ofsection 33.080, RSMo, specifically as they relate to the transferof fund balances to the general revenue, and shall be the amountof the fund at the beginning of the appropriation period nextimmediately following.
(L. 1976 H.B. 1095 § 600.053, A.L. 1982 H.B. 1169, A.L. 1986 S.B. 451)