Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...should in no way be affiliated with the public defender's office. Therefore, payment by the counties of court-appointed private counsel in conflict cases does not constitute a contribution to the public defender's office, and does not contravene subsection 27.54(2)....

...6 [4] Subsection 27.51(6), Florida Statutes (1989), states: "A sum shall be appropriated to the public defender of each judicial circuit enumerated in subsection (4) for the employment of assistant public defenders and clerical employees and the payment of expenses incurred in cases on appeal." [5] Section 27.54, Florida Statutes (1989), provides in pertinent part: (2) No county or municipality shall appropriate or contribute funds to the operation of the offices of the various public defenders, except that a county or municipality may appropri...

...an indigent criminal defendant's transcript on appeal shall be assessed against the county in which the case arises. Respondent, on the other hand, argues that counties are specifically prohibited from paying for the transcripts in question, citing Section 27.54(2), Florida Statutes (1975), which provides: No county or municipality shall appropriate or contribute funds to the operation of the offices of the various public defenders....

...luntary hospitalization, both our State and the Federal Constitution require that indigents be afforded review commensurate to that available to nonindigents. See Williams v. Oklahoma City , Grissom v. Dade County, and Bell v. State, supra. Sections 27.54(2) and 27.51(4)(e), Florida Statutes (1975), do not alter our conclusion....

...than any one part thereof. Florida Jai Alai, Inc. v. Lake Howell Water & Reclamation District, 274 So.2d 552 (Fla. 1973); State v. Hayles, 240 So.2d 1 (Fla. 1970); Englewood Water District v. Tate, 334 So.2d 626 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976). An examination of Section 27.54 in its entirety reflects that the enactment relates solely to operation expenses of the public defenders' offices, such as for employment of personnel and travel expenses....

...Costs have been defined to include payments to a court reporter for preparation of a record on appeal. See King v. Weis-Patterson Lumber Co., 127 Fla. 109, 172 So. 693 (1937); Markham v. Gottsegen, 181 So.2d 594 (Fla. 2d DCA 1966). Section 27.51(4)(e) simply complements Section 27.54(2) by providing for legislative appropriations for operation expenses of the enumerated public defenders' offices. Were respondent correct in its assertion concerning the operation of Section 27.54(2) counties would be precluded from paying the transcript costs of an indigent criminal defendant under Rule 6.8....

...— In a criminal case when the state or an indigent defendant requires the services of an expert witness whose opinion is relevant to the issues of the case, the court shall award reasonable compensation to the expert witness that shall be taxed and paid by the county as costs in the same manner as other costs. Section 27.54(3), Florida Statutes (1991), further provides in pertinent part: The public defender's offices shall also be provided with pretrial consultation fees for expert or other potential witnesses consulted before trial by the public defender ......

...ees of the special assistant public defender. The Constitution of the State of Florida and the statutes enacted pursuant thereto provide for a state-controlled and a state-financed judicial system. See Article V, Section 1, Florida Constitution; and Section 27.54, Florida Statutes (1977). Especially noted is Section 27.54(2), Florida Statutes (1977), which provides: "No county or municipality shall appropriate or contribute funds to the operation of the offices of the various public defenders." The County has appropriated money to pay for special assista...

...d judicial system apart from any county funding. Generally, that is an accurate statement and I certainly agree that Dade County has standing to bring this petition. The statement, however, is subject to important exceptions which are relevant here. Section 27.54(3), Florida Statutes (1977), requires the counties to support the offices of the various public defenders with office space, utilities, telephone service and custodial services at a certain minimum level of funding....

...The office space and utilities to be provided by the counties shall not be less than the standards for space allotment promulgated by the department of general services. The counties shall not provide less of these services than were provided in fiscal year 1972-1973." § 27.54(3), Fla....

...charged with a misdemeanor authorized for prosecution by the state attorney . . . or a violation of a special law or county or municipal ordinance ancillary to a state charge, or if not ancillary to a state charge, only if the public defender contracts with the county or municipality to provide representation pursuant to ss. 27.54 and 125.69." [e.s.] § 27.51(1), Fla. Stat. (2007). Section 27.54 further provides: "A public defender or regional counsel defending violations of ....

...with . . . municipalities to recover the full cost of services rendered on an hourly basis or reimburse the state for the full cost of assigning one or more full-time equivalent attorney positions to work on behalf of the . . . municipality." [e.s.] § 27.54(2), Fla....

...ht probation. Poore v. State, 531 So.2d 161, 164 (Fla.1988). Whichever option the trial court chooses, under Blackshear, the sentence imposed on remand may not exceed fifteen years of incarceration followed by twenty-five years of probation. Second, section 27.54, Florida Statutes, allows the trial court to assess attorney's fees and costs against a defendant who has been determined to be guilty....

...ings below and in this court. He argues that section 27.52 creates no role for a county in indigency proceedings. He concedes, however, that Palm Beach County has a financial interest because if he is indigent it must pay for a trial transcript. See § 27.54(3), Fla....

reference to county payment of such costs. Section 27.54, F.S., provides: Expenditures for public defender's

...5th DCA 1983), is misplaced. That ease involves the cost of transcripts for an indigent defendant’s criminal appeal. Such costs incurred by the public defender’s office are governed by statutes and rules that are not applicable to a typical civil case. See § 27.54(3), Fla.Stat....

...the payment of all of the experts except one. The Academy Group served the defense as a “profiler.” The Academy Group submitted a bill for fourteen and one-half hours at $250 per hour. The county attorney, exercising the county’s rights under section 27.54(3), Florida Statutes (1995), asked for a hearing to oppose the reasonableness of the fee....

...a category covering this “profi-ler.” Florida law and the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure require the counties to *430 pay for the costs of expert witnesses for indigent defendants. See Fla. R.Crim. P. 3.220(o); § 914.06, Fla. Stat. (1995); § 27.54(3), Fla. Stat. (1995). The public defender must show that the fee is “reasonable” and “necessary.” Section 27.54(3) gives the county the right to contest the reasonableness of the fee....

...the county commissioners of the certified copy of the judgment of the court against such county for such costs. However this section does not apply to indigent defendants- represented by the public defender. In such cases, costs incurred pursuant to s. 27.54(3) shall be paid by the county upon certification by the public defender as being useful and necessary in the preparation of a criminal defense, provided that the reasonableness of such expenses may be contested by the county in the criminal proceeding....

...r appointed, not based on a judgment but based “upon certification by the public defender.” It appears that the intent of the 1989 amendment adding the last two sentences to section 939.15 was to make clear that the types of costs referred to in section 27.54(3), Florida Statutes, i.e....

...travel expenses, expert witness consulting fees, investigative costs, et. cetera, are to be certified by the person who incurred the charges and who is knowledgeable about them — the public defender. Comparing this amendment with the contemporary amendment to section 27.54 to like effect demonstrates that the legislative intent was to replace the procedure set forth in the earlier version of section 27.54, Florida Statutes (1987) (which required a “judgment” of the trial court) with the public defender certification procedure referenced in the 1989 versions of section 27.54 and 939.15....

court succinctly stated: An examination of Section 27.54 in its entirety reflects that the enactment

...motion. On appeal, the county frames the issue: Whether Seminole County is required or permitted to pay travel expenses of assistant public defenders travelling on official business relating to the defense of a criminal case. The County relies upon section 27.54(2), Florida Statutes (1984), which prohibits the County from contributing funds to “the operation of the offices of the various public defenders.......

...for the year.” The section further provides, in subsection (e), that included among such operational expenses are travel expenses of state attorneys and assistant state attorneys. Additionally, in section 27.34(1), there is a provision parallel to section 27.54(2) for state attorneys that “no county or municipality shall appropriate or contribute funds to the operation of the various state attorneys.” The attorney general also noted that, although case law has not addressed the specific qu...

...State, 317 So.2d 792 (Fla.1st DCA 1975). Additionally, in dicta, the Florida Supreme Court in the case of Shuman v. State, 358 So.2d 1333 (Fla.1978), in discussing whether the costs of appellate transcripts should be borne by a county, stated: ... An examination of section 27.54 in its entirety reflects that the enactment relates solely to operation expenses of the public defender’s offices, such as for employment of personnel and travel expenses....

consultation fee of an expert witness pursuant to section 27.54(3), Florida Statutes (1993).1 The court denied

"operation" of the public defender's office. Section 27.54(2). Another provision, however, states that