Joint Budget Committee. The bill creates a mechanism to set the
hourly rate for attorney time for attorneys who contract with the office of alternate defense counsel, the office of the child's representative, or the office of the respondent parents' counsel. The rate for fiscal year 2023-24 is $100 per hour. The hourly rate must be increased annually by no more than $5 each year until it is at least 75% of the rate set in the federal Criminal Justice Act Revision of 1986 for indigent representation in federal court. The hourly rate may be adjusted in subsequent fiscal years to maintain the hourly rate at or above 75% of the rate set in the federal Criminal Justice Act Revision of 1986.
