On behalf of the juvenile court judges and magistrates of Tennessee’s 98 juvenile courts, the executive committee of the Tennessee Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges announced this week its “full support” of the current efforts to increase the state’s judicial system’s budget for it to increase the compensation rate for court-appointed attorneys.
Juvenile Judges Issue Statement on Indigent Representationhttps://t.co/iJyde4tKHQ
— Tennessee Courts (@TNCourts) December 7, 2023
“Juvenile court is where the many problems facing our state’s children are addressed… Private attorneys are crucial for abused or unwanted children. Unfortunately, many attorneys do not accept appointments in juvenile court due to the inadequacy of the reimbursement,” the council said in a statement. “Simply stated, many court-appointed attorneys lose money taking these cases. They are hard cases and often last for years. There is absolutely no financial incentive for lawyers to take these cases.”
“Our Council looks forward to working with the Supreme Court, the Administrative Office of the Courts, the Legislature, and the Governor’s Office to address this issue,” the council added.
In October, as previously reported by The Tennessee Star, the Tennessee Supreme Court announced its efforts urging the Tennessee General Assembly to increase the state’s judicial system’s budget in order for it to increase the compensation rate for court-appointed attorneys.
The Tennessee General Assembly sets the state Supreme Court’s budget.
The state’s reimbursement rate for court-appointed attorneys has been $50 an hour since 1997 – the lowest in the country. Nearly half of all cases with a court-appointed attorney in the Volunteer State are in juvenile court and involve families and child welfare.
The Administrative Office of the Courts said it plans to make a “significant budget request” to support increasing the attorney hourly rate to $80 in its proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2024-2025 to “stabilize the criminal justice and juvenile court systems.”
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
