The Hillsboro Reporter, in Hill County, Texas, features an important article about the cost of capital murder trials and the impact these cases might have on the county budget. The article notes that “this time last year, the county was facing two capital murder trials with court-appointed lawyers as budget time approached,” and that this “prompted commissioners to create a capital murder line item in the jury fund containing $250,000 as a precautionary measure.”
The article notes that counties can seek reimbursement (up to $100,00) from the Texas Task Force on Indigent Defense to offset expenses related to the defense of indigent defendants. The Task Force does not cover any expenses incurred by the district attorney’s office.
Read the full article.
(Thanks to Steve Hall with the StandDown Texas Project for passing this along.)