Mahoning commissioners, bar association reach agreement on court fees


January 31, 2008 at 9:27p.m.

Mahoning commissioners, bar association reach agreement on court fees

YOUNGSTOWN — The standoff has been resolved between the Mahoning County Bar Association and the county commissioners over hourly fees for court-appointed lawyers for indigent defendants in criminal cases.

The fees will be phased in over the next few years.

For 22 years, the fees have been $30 out of court and $40 in court, which last year were the lowest in the state.

The new fees, unanimously adopted by the commissioners today, are $40 and $50, retroactive to Jan. 1 this year; $45 and $55 effective Jan. 1, 2009; and $50 and $60, effective Jan. 1, 2010.

“This was a compromise, and the phase-in was at the request of the county commissioners,’’ said Atty. J. Gerald Ingram, bar association president. “The economic realities in this community required a phase-in.”

The bar association had proposed $50 and $60, effective immediately.

For the complete story, see Friday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com.