SB921 Summary

• Requires persons receiving court-appointed public defender representation to sign a certificate of indigency as a legally binding contractual agreement to repay legal fees both at appointment and after case conclusion.

• Increases the fee assessment for public defender appointment from $10-$100 to $10-$400, collected at the beginning of proceedings and deposited into a separate "Public Defender User Fees" account.

• Establishes a nonbinding fee schedule for judgment against defendants based on case type and disposition (ranging from $65 for early misdemeanor disposition to $12,500 for capital murder with death penalty).

• Authorizes the state and county to file civil actions within three years to recover fees from persons determined not to have been indigent, and allows liens against legal settlements, lottery winnings, and property forfeited by the state.

• Permits the Arkansas Public Defender Commission to file a claim for setoff against a defendant's state income tax refund as an authorized claimant agency.