- A. The magistrate court shall use a standard adopted by the public defender department to determine indigency of persons accused of crimes carrying a possible jail sentence.
- B. The magistrate court shall use a fee schedule adopted by the public defender department when appointing attorneys to represent defendants who are financially unable to obtain private counsel.
- C. The magistrate court shall order reimbursement from each person who has received or desires to receive legal representation or another benefit under the Public Defender Act [Chapter 31, Article 15 NMSA 1978] after a determination is made that he was not indigent according to the standard for indigency adopted by the public defender department.
- D. Any amounts recovered pursuant to this section shall be paid to the state treasurer for credit to the general fund.
History: 1978 Comp., § 35-5-8, enacted by Laws 1987, ch. 20, § 5.
ANNOTATIONS
Cross references. — For defense of indigents, see 31-16-1 to 31-16-10 NMSA 1978.