NASHVILLE, TENN. (TN Tribune) — The Tennessee General Assembly yesterday approved critical additional funding for court-appointed attorneys representing the indigent in state courts. The funds, $8.6 million in additional recurring funding, were included in the FY 2024-2025 budget, and will provide a $10 increase in the hourly reimbursement rate of compensation, along with a proportionate increase in the current cap on the total amount a court-appointed attorney may earn per case, marking the first time this rate has been increased since 1997. The Tennessee Bar Association (TBA) applauds the Tennessee General Assembly and Gov. Bill Lee for supporting this funding as a first step.
The TBA has been working hand-in-hand with the Tennessee Supreme Court and the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) to encourage state legislators to increase funding for indigent representation. The Tennessee Supreme Court sets the hourly reimbursement rate and caps for court-appointed attorneys representing the indigent under Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 13, but any increase must be funded through the budget, which is determined by the General Assembly.
Tennessee’s court-appointed attorneys are the lowest paid in the country, and until now had not had their hourly reimbursement rate raised in 26 years. The low rates and caps, combined with the rising costs of maintaining a legal practice, have created a “perfect storm” where fewer and fewer attorneys can afford to take cases representing the indigent. This situation has resulted in a crisis in our legal system, and especially in the juvenile courts. Nearly half of all cases requiring court-appointed attorneys are in juvenile court and involve families and children, such as adoptions, dependency and neglect allegations, reports of child abuse, proceedings to terminate parental rights, and a vast number of cases in which the interests of a child or other vulnerable person are protected by a guardian ad litem.
TBA President Jim Barry reacted to the development saying, “The TBA thanks the General Assembly for making indigent representation funding a priority, and is especially grateful to Chief Justice Holly Kirby, the Tennessee Supreme Court and the Administrative Office of the Courts for their leadership and partnership in helping spotlight this critical issue. It must be financially feasible for court-appointed attorneys to continue representing some of the state’s most vulnerable residents or the entire judicial system will suffer. The TBA remains committed to working with the Supreme Court, the Administrative Office of the Courts, Gov. Bill Lee, the legislature and other stakeholders to secure additional resources to fairly compensate lawyers who do this important work.”
The TBA supported the AOC’s full budget request of $26.145 million, which would have funded a raise of the hourly rate from $50 to $80. While still insufficient, this increase would have marked a dramatic improvement from the current level. While the appropriation in the final budget funded only a $10 increase, the TBA is encouraged by the comments of House Finance, Ways and Means Subcommittee Chair Patsy Hazlewood, R-Signal Mountain, who acknowledged that the funding provided this week is just a start. “It’s not market compensation, but it will allow us, hopefully, to address a problem. It’s very difficult for judges to find attorneys to take these indigent cases, so with additional funding, hopefully we will be able to get more cases through our system and stop the roadblocks,” Hazlewood said.
The TBA will continue to fight for additional funding to raise the hourly reimbursement rate.