19.2-163 - Compensation of court-appointed counsel.
§ 19.2-163. Compensation of court-appointed counsel.
Upon submission to the court, for which appointed representation is provided,of a detailed accounting of the time expended for that representation, madewithin 30 days of the completion of all proceedings in that court, counselappointed to represent an indigent accused in a criminal case shall becompensated for his services on an hourly basis at a rate set by the SupremeCourt of Virginia in a total amount not to exceed the amounts specified inthe following schedule:
1. In a district court, a sum not to exceed $120, provided that,notwithstanding the foregoing limitation, the court in its discretion, andsubject to guidelines issued by the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Courtof Virginia, may waive the limitation of fees up to (i) an additional $120when the effort expended, the time reasonably necessary for the particularrepresentation, the novelty and difficulty of the issues, or othercircumstances warrant such a waiver; or (ii) an amount up to $650 to defend,in the case of a juvenile, an offense that would be a felony if committed byan adult that may be punishable by confinement in the state correctionalfacility for a period of more than 20 years, or a charge of violation ofprobation for such offense, when the effort expended, the time reasonablynecessary for the particular representation, the novelty and difficulty ofthe issues, or other circumstances warrant such a waiver; or (iii) such otheramount as may be provided by law. Such amount shall be allowed in any casewherein counsel conducts the defense of a single charge against the indigentthrough to its conclusion or a charge of violation of probation at anyhearing conducted under § 19.2-306; thereafter, compensation for additionalcharges against the same accused also conducted by the same counsel shall beallowed on the basis of additional time expended as to such additionalcharges;
2. In a circuit court (i) to defend a felony charge that may be punishable bydeath an amount deemed reasonable by the court; (ii) to defend a felonycharge that may be punishable by confinement in the state correctionalfacility for a period of more than 20 years, or a charge of violation ofprobation for such offense, a sum not to exceed $1,235, provided that,notwithstanding the foregoing limitation, the court in its discretion, andsubject to guidelines issued by the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Courtof Virginia, may waive the limitation of fees up to an additional $850 whenthe effort expended, the time reasonably necessary for the particularrepresentation, the novelty and difficulty of the issues, or othercircumstances warrant such a waiver; (iii) to defend any other felony charge,or a charge of violation of probation for such offense, a sum not to exceed$445, provided that, notwithstanding the foregoing limitation, the court inits discretion, and subject to guidelines issued by the Executive Secretaryof the Supreme Court of Virginia, may waive the limitation of fees up to anadditional $155 when the effort expended, the time reasonably necessary forthe particular representation, the novelty and difficulty of the issues, orother circumstances warrant such a waiver; and (iv) in the circuit courtonly, to defend any misdemeanor charge punishable by confinement in jail or acharge of violation of probation for such offense, a sum not to exceed $158.In the event any case is required to be retried due to a mistrial for anycause or reversed on appeal, the court may allow an additional fee for eachcase in an amount not to exceed the amounts allowable in the initial trial.In the event counsel is appointed to defend an indigent charged with a felonythat may be punishable by death, such counsel shall continue to receivecompensation as provided in this paragraph for defending such a felony,regardless of whether the charge is reduced or amended to a felony that maynot be punishable by death, prior to final disposition of the case. In theevent counsel is appointed to defend an indigent charged with any otherfelony, such counsel shall receive compensation as provided in this paragraphfor defending such a felony, regardless of whether the charge is reduced oramended to a misdemeanor or lesser felony prior to final disposition of thecase in either the district court or circuit court.
Counsel appointed to represent an indigent accused in a criminal case, whoare not public defenders, may request an additional waiver exceeding theamounts provided for in this section. The request for any additional amountshall be submitted to the presiding judge, in writing, with a detailedaccounting of the time spent and the justification for the additional amount.The presiding judge shall determine, subject to guidelines issued by theExecutive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia, whether the request foran additional amount is justified in whole or in part, by considering theeffort expended and the time reasonably necessary for the particularrepresentation, and, if so, shall forward the request as approved to thechief judge of the circuit court or district court for approval.
If at any time the funds appropriated to pay for waivers under this sectionbecome insufficient, the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginiashall so certify to the courts and no further waivers shall be approved.
The circuit or district court shall direct the payment of such reasonableexpenses incurred by such court-appointed counsel as it deems appropriateunder the circumstances of the case. Counsel appointed by the court torepresent an indigent charged with repeated violations of the same section ofthe Code of Virginia, with each of such violations arising out of the sameincident, occurrence, or transaction, shall be compensated in an amount notto exceed the fee prescribed for the defense of a single charge, if suchoffenses are tried as part of the same judicial proceeding. The trial judgeshall consider any guidelines established by the Supreme Court but shall havethe sole discretion to fix the amount of compensation to be paid counselappointed by the court to defend a felony charge that may be punishable bydeath.
The circuit or district court shall direct that the foregoing payments shallbe paid out by the Commonwealth, if the defendant is charged with a violationof a statute, or by the county, city or town, if the defendant is chargedwith a violation of a county, city or town ordinance, to the attorney soappointed to defend such person as compensation for such defense.
Counsel representing a defendant charged with a Class 1 felony, or counselrepresenting an indigent prisoner under sentence of death in a state habeascorpus proceeding, may submit to the court, on a monthly basis, a statementof all costs incurred and fees charged by him in the case during that month.Whenever the total charges as are deemed reasonable by the court for whichpayment has not previously been made or requested exceed $1,000, the courtmay direct that payment be made as otherwise provided in this section.
When such directive is entered upon the order book of the court, theCommonwealth, county, city or town, as the case may be, shall provide for thepayment out of its treasury of the sum of money so specified. If thedefendant is convicted, the amount allowed by the court to the attorneyappointed to defend him shall be taxed against the defendant as a part of thecosts of prosecution and, if collected, the same shall be paid to theCommonwealth, or the county, city or town, as the case may be. In the eventthat counsel for the defendant requests a waiver of the limitations oncompensation, the court shall assess against the defendant an amount equal tothe pre-waiver compensation limit specified in this section for each chargefor which the defendant was convicted. An abstract of such costs shall bedocketed in the judgment docket and execution lien book maintained by suchcourt.
Any statement submitted by an attorney for payments due him for indigentrepresentation or for representation of a child pursuant to § 16.1-266 shall,after the submission of the statement, be forwarded forthwith by the clerk tothe Commonwealth, county, city or town, as the case may be, responsible forpayment.
For the purposes of this section, the defense of a case may be consideredconducted through to its conclusion and an appointed counsel entitled tocompensation for his services in the event an indigent accused fails toappear in court subject to a capias for his arrest or a show cause summonsfor his failure to appear and remains a fugitive from justice for one yearfollowing the issuance of the capias or the summons to show cause, andappointed counsel has appeared at a hearing on behalf of the accused.
Effective July 1, 2007, the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court ofVirginia shall track and report the number and category of offenses chargedinvolving adult and juvenile offenders in cases in which court-appointedcounsel is assigned. The Executive Secretary shall also track and report theamounts paid by waiver above the initial cap to court-appointed counsel. TheExecutive Secretary shall provide these reports to the Governor, members ofthe House Appropriations Committee, and members of the Senate FinanceCommittee on a quarterly basis.
(Code 1950, §§ 14.1-184, 14.1-184.1, 19.1-241.5, 19.1-241.11; 1964, cc. 386,651, 657; 1968, c. 481; 1973, c. 316; 1975, c. 495; 1976, c. 553; 1980, c.626; 1981, cc. 472, 486; 1985, c. 525; 1986, c. 425; 1987, c. 638; 1988, cc.465, 472; 1989, c. 565; 1994, c. 451; 1995, cc. 571, 713; 1997, c. 492; 1998,cc. 440, 451; 2000, cc. 436, 448; 2001, c. 509; 2006, c. 332; 2007, cc. 938,946; 2008, c. 760; 2009, c. 284.)