17.50/HR;
25.00/HR eff. 7/1/06

[LRC 1460.2] Prior express written approval of the Court is required for all investigation and legal runner services. A file-stamped copy of the court order of appointment must accompany all claims for payment for investigator and legal runner services. Billings must be signed by defense counsel prior to submittal to the Court for payment. [LRC 1460.1] Costs of services performed prior to the order of the Court, and costs of services beyond that provided for in the court order, will be denied. [LRC 1460.6] Refer to schedule notes below.

Capital/Life without parole (PC 190.2)

Max 35.00/HR;
Max 25.00/HR eff. 7/1/06

15.00/HR;
Minimum wage plus self-employment tax eff. 7/1/06 (at 2005 min. wage $6.75 and self-employment tax 15.3%, legal runner rate is $7.78/HR)

Specific prior Court approval is required for all appointed investigator, expert (including transcription services) and legal runner services. [LRC 1460.6] Appointments of investigators, experts and legal runners are subject to the provisions of Rule 1441 regarding financial evaluations of defendants.

All claims for appointed services shall be submitted on Court forms within 60 days of completion of services claimed. [LRC 1460.1] Any claim submitted more than 60 days after completion of services will be subject to a penalty of ten percent (10%) of the claim amount per month, up to a maximum of twenty percent (20%), absent extenuating circumstances. Billings shall be for all services provided to that point that have not been previously presented or paid.

Claims must provide sufficient specificity with regard to services performed to support the bill for payment, with dates and hours of service itemized. Locations (city) must be specified on claims when travel time and/or mileage is claimed. The Court's minimum billing increment is 0.25 hours (15 minutes). Original receipts required for all expense items. Special expense items and any single expense item in excess of $50 must have specific prior Court approval to be reimbursed. A copy of the Court's appointing order must accompany the claim when submitted.

Investigator services, when appointed by the Court, to be limited to actual investigative work and related activities such as testimony. Appointed investigator services are not to include activities that would normally be performed by the defense counsel or defense counsel staff as outlined in Rule 1451, such as sorting discovery and indexing discovery notebooks (exception for investigator's own notebook), preparing court orders and subpoenas, and mailing or transporting materials, orders or motions.

Appointed legal runner services, reserved for in propria persona (self-representing) defendants in criminal matters, to be limited to photocopying, and mailing or transporting materials, orders or motions. [LRC 1451] Appointed legal runners are not to purchase any supplies for defendant use without specific prior Court approval, and are not to perform legal research or typing as a service under appointment. Original receipts must be provided for any reimbursement requested, including for photocopying and authorized purchases. Effective 7/1/06, initial appointment orders for legal runner services not to exceed $250 in services (approx. 32 hours at $7.78/hr), plus mileage at current Court-approved rate. Initial funding for appointed legal runners shall be limited to $250, plus mileage, for any given case, except as allowed for in Rule 1460.8. If the initial funding approval is exhausted and additional services are needed, the defendant may subsequently apply to the hearing judge for additional funding supported with a detailed listing of services already rendered and proposed to be performed. Legal runner services, when appointed by the Court to be limited to photocopying, and transporting materials, motions or orders. Visitations and phone calls to West Valley Detention Center must be associated with an allowable billable activity, and will be subject to the discretion of the Court. Appointed legal runners should contact the Court's Executive Office in advance of services being performed so that the legal runner may be fully informed of requirements and limitations pertaining to appointed legal runner services.

Requests by retained counsel for Court-appointment of investigator or expert services at government expense shall comply with Rule 1441 regarding appointed defense fees. Investigator appointments at the request of retained attorneys shall be limited to an initial authorization amount of $600 (24 hours at $25/hr.), plus mileage, for any given case, except as allowed for under Rule 1460.8. If the initial funding approval is exhausted and additional services are needed, counsel may subsequently apply to the hearing judge for additional funding supported with a detailed listing of services already rendered and proposed to be performed. Any request for expert fees must comply with Rules 1460.3, 1460.5 and 1460.8, as appropriate, and Rule 1441.

Requests by in propria persona (self-representing) defendants in criminal matters for Court-appointment of investigator, expert and legal runner services at government expense shall comply with Rule 1441 regarding appointed defense fees.

Paralegal services, when appointed by the Court, are limited to capital cases. Paralegal service appointment order requests must specify the services to be performed by the paralegal under appointment, and must specify why the services cannot be performed by the attorney or attorney office staff.

Motions for appointments of investigators and experts in capital cases involving indigent defendants will be made pursuant to the provisions of Penal Code Section 987.9 and Rule 1460.8. Mitigation Specialists for capital cases under court appointment will be compensated up to a maximum of $40.00 per hour, and services are to be limited to gathering of information specifically related to mitigation defense and coordinating the various aspects of investigators, experts and witnesses for the penalty (mitigation) phase, and to activities that would not normally be performed by an investigator or paralegal appointed pursuant to this Rule 1451.

Paralegal appointments reserved for capital cases. Paralegal appointment order requests must specify why the services to be performed by paralegal under Court appointment cannot be performed by defense counsel or defense counsel office staff. [LRC 1451] Paralegals must work under direction and supervision of a member of State Bar [B&P 6450].

Specialized transcription services, when appointed by the Court, may be authorized up to lowest commercially-available rate.