COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

County Manager’s Office

DATE:

May 18, 2011

BOARD MEETING DATE:

June 7, 2011

SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:

None

VOTE REQUIRED:

Majority

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

David S. Boesch, County Manager

SUBJECT:

Private Defender Program Contract

RECOMMENDATION:

Adopt a Resolution authorizing the President of the Board of Supervisors to execute an agreement with the San Mateo County Bar Association for Private Defender Program services for the period of July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012.

BACKGROUND:

The County is obligated to provide legal representation for those persons accused of crimes and subject to certain civil proceedings who are determined by the courts to be indigent and thus entitled to the appointment of counsel at public expense. Through a contractual agreement with the County, the San Mateo County Bar Association (Association) has been providing legal counsel through its Private Defender Program (PDP) to all financially eligible persons since 1968.

The Association is the contracting agency and manages its PDP consistent with the terms of the agreement. It is unique in that its carefully screened attorneys who serve on the PDP panel are not employees, but are independent private attorneys who accept appointments to represent persons determined financially eligible by the courts. Attorneys are compensated by the Association at rates established for various types of appearances in the judicial process.

The County thus avoids the considerable expense of having to enter into additional contracts for legal services in conflict of interest situations, and since the PDP panel attorneys are responsible for maintaining their own offices, the contractual arrangements avoids the costs associated with a traditional public defender office, such as facility costs and employee benefits. The current five-year agreement is scheduled to expire June 30, 2011.

DISCUSSION:

It was agreed upon during contract negotiations that, due to the current economic conditions, a new one-year agreement between the County and the Association be entered into and become effective July 1, 2011. The Association has agreed to hold the contract amount flat for FY 2011-12 and both the County and the Association will further negotiate during FY 2011-12 to develop a longer term contract, which will take into consideration the long-term impacts of public safety realignment and the imminent release of non-violent offenders to local jurisdictions.

Under the agreement, the Association will continue to provide legal services for all financially eligible persons entitled to a court-appointed counsel. The Association will provide representation in criminal cases, juvenile cases, mental health cases, and certain civil and miscellaneous cases. Attorneys will appear at all arraignment calendars, drug count calendars, probable cause hearing calendars, and all other calendars as requested by the Superior Court. The Association will continue to provide, within 60 days of the end of the second and fourth quarter of FY 2011-12, the names of all attorneys who represented clients during that quarter. Attorney-client confidentiality will be carefully observed in all reports furnished to the County under this and other provisions of the contract. Annually the Association will report to the County on its efforts to provide sufficient training of all attorneys accepting cases and shall evaluate the performance of all attorneys. The actual evaluations will be confidential, but reported by number and results to the County. The Association will have an experienced attorney on duty on each business day to receive feedback about the performance of PDP attorneys. Any complaints will be processed in accordance with a written procedure which is specified in the contract. The number and nature of all such complaints as well as their disposition will be reported annually to the County. The Association shall continue to maintain caseload information and report the results to the County on a monthly basis. The Association recognizes the importance of community outreach efforts and will work closely with the Court and the County to ensure that successful outreach programs are provided to the citizens of San Mateo County.

The agreement includes all provisions that are required by County ordinance and administrative memoranda, including but not limited to insurance, hold harmless, non-discrimination, equal benefits, and the contractor jury service policy. County Counsel has reviewed and approved the agreement and resolution as to form.

Approval of this Agreement contributes to the Shared Vision 2025 outcome of a Healthy Community by ensuring that all residents of San Mateo County, regardless of their socio-economic standing, receive competent legal representation in the court of law as provided for by the United States Constitution.

Performance Measure(s):

Measure

FY 2009-10
Actual

FY 2010-11
Projected

Criminal Arraignments:

- Limited Jurisdiction

- General Jurisdiction

15,128

1,455

14,631

1,503

Probation Violations

1,183

1,166

Total Case Counts

21,970

20,944

Number of Training Seminars:

- Adult Criminal Law

- Juvenile Dependency and Delinquency

18

4

15

4

Client Complaints:

- Relationship Issues

- Performance Issues

64

26

64

22

FISCAL IMPACT:

The County will compensate the Association a total of $16,449,046 for services rendered during FY 2011-12. The County and the Association will work collaboratively during FY 2011-12 to negotiate future terms of the agreement for FY 2012-13 and beyond.