FISCAL NOTE
Date Requested: February 11, 2026
Time Requested: 08:22 AM |
| Agency: |
Public Defender Services |
|---|
| CBD Number: |
Version: |
Bill Number: |
Resolution Number: |
| 1774 |
Introduced |
HB4405 |
|
|---|
| CBD Subject: |
Courts |
|---|
|
FUND(S):
0226
Sources of Revenue:
General Fund
Legislation creates:
Increases Existing Expenses
Fiscal Note Summary
Effect this measure will have on costs and revenues of state government.
Summarize in a clear and concise manner what impact this measure will have on costs and revenues of state government.
The bill would require a second public defender corporation in 11 judicial circuits. The second corporation would be staffed with attorney and staff positions already existing in the original corporation.
An attorney in the new corporation would be designated the Public Defender and would demand additional compensation.
Moreover, to separate the corporations administratively and to comply with the requirements for professional ethics, a new office manager would be required for the second corporation; a new server and network would be required for the second corporation; and existing lease space would have to be retrofitted to provide for separate and dedicated entrances and working space for the employees of the second corporation.
The second corporation would be appointed to cases in which multiple defendants may be charged and the existing corporation cannot avoid a conflict. While this would relieve private counsel of the appointment, the agency's experience is that the overall compensation to private counsel will not be reduced as, instead, more cases will be resolved.
The agency's estimation is that an additional amount of $2,241,800 must be appropriated to account 35200 in the first year to effectuate the creation of the additional eleven corporations. This would be reduced to $1,141,800 in subsequent years.
Fiscal Note Detail
| Effect of Proposal |
Fiscal Year |
2026
Increase/Decrease
(use"-") |
2027
Increase/Decrease
(use"-") |
Fiscal Year
(Upon Full
Implementation) |
| 1. Estmated Total Cost |
2,241,800 |
1,141,800 |
1,141,800 |
| Personal Services |
1,031,800 |
1,031,800 |
1,031,800 |
| Current Expenses |
110,000 |
110,000 |
110,000 |
| Repairs and Alterations |
1,100,000 |
0 |
0 |
| Assets |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Other |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2. Estimated Total Revenues |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Explanation of above estimates (including long-range effect):
Please explain increases and decreases in personal services, current expenses, repairs and alterations, assets, other costs and revenues, including assumptions and data sources and delineation between start-up and ongoing costs. Please also include a long-range schedule of costs and revenues if fiscal impact is expected to vary in future years.
The assumption is that 11 new conflict corporations would be operated.
Promotion of an attorney to Public Defender is estimated to be an increase in an attorney's compensation in the amount of $20,000 for each of the 11 corportions. A new office manager for 11 corporations is $73,800 (salary and benefits). Retrofitting the offices of 11 corporations is a one time cost of $100,000 per office. Alternatively, new locations might be obtained, but for this note the assumption is that existing space will be subdivided for privacy of each corporation. Additional technical needs such as servers and network accounts is an annually recurring $10,000 per corporation.
No reduction in payment to private counsel is anticipated. Instead, the additional representative capacity will mean more cases are resolved.
Memorandum
Please identify any areas of vagueness, technical defects, reasons a bill would not have a fiscal impact, and/or any special issues not captured elsewhere on this form.
For the two corporations operating in Kanawha County and in Berkeley/Morgan Counties, the split would still result in two corporations that have more than 6 counsel. Does this mean that in these counties,two to three new corporations would have to be created in each circuit to have less than 6 attorneys in each corporation? If so, the fiscal estimate would have be increased by approximately another one million dollars to reflect the additional corporations.
Fruther, it is recommended that an informal ethics opinion be obtained from the Office of Disciplinary Counsel stating that no ethical conflicts remain in the representation of co-defendants by the two corporations even though the two separate corporations have an identical board of directors.
Person submitting Fiscal Note: Dana F. Eddy
Email Address: dana.f.eddy@wv.gov