TBA Law Blog

TBA Law Blog

Legislative Update: Raising the Rate for Court Appointed Attorneys

Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Apr 29, 2015

The TBA this year pushed for legislation to raise the rate for court-appointed work from $40 an hour to $100 an hour and to double the caps. The proposal was introduced in the Senate as SB1009 by Lee Harris, D-Memphis, and in the House as HB1025 by Mike Stewart, D-Nashville.

In March, the Senate Judiciary Committee and House Civil Justice Subcommittee held hearings on the legislation. Because of the outreach to elected officials by TBA members and the testimony of TBA leaders at these hearings, a tremendous amount of education was done on this issue.

In the Senate, the bill backed by TBA was tabled in favor of a bill, SB649, establishing a task force to look at issues involved in indigent representation. As envisioned by the bill sponsor, Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, the task force would be made up of nine members to be appointed by the Tennessee Supreme Court chief justice, the House speaker and the lieutenant governor. The Senate passed SB649 on March 30 by a unanimous vote.

The House version of the task force bill, HB141, was sponsored by Rep. Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol. It was approved by the Civil Justice Committee but stalled when the House Finance Ways and Means Subcommittee sent it to its Study Subcommittee. However, the subcommittee did refer the request for a task force to the Administrative Office of the Courts, which has indicated it will take up the request, study the issue and report back to the legislature.

The TBA remains committed to seeing that attorneys are paid a fair rate and has always believed this effort will be a multi-year project. Members are encouraged to continue educating their lawmakers about the issues at stake. For more information contact TBA Public Policy Coordinator Josie Beets, (615) 383-7421 or read more online.

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