Bexar County may create system to manage indigent defense cases, help reduce jail population
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District Court Judge Ron Rangel, shown appearing before Bexar County Commissioners Court in April, called creation of a new system to manage indigent defense cases “the next step in criminal justice reform in Bexar County.”Billy Calzada /Staff Photographer
Bexar County commissioners backed a plan Tuesday to create a system that would track and reform indigent defense.
Commissioners supported a proposal to apply for a five-year grant for a managed assigned counsel program, or MAC, to improve the quality of legal representation for indigent defendants. If approved, the Texas Indigent Defense Commission would provide 80 percent of the $1.86 million cost in the first year of the grant program, with the county paying the remaining $372,577. The county’s share of responsibility for the cost would gradually increase each year to the full amount in the fifth year.
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