Brighton Division of the Boston Municipal Court Probation Department's Indigency Determination Process for State-Sponsored Legal Services

This is a state audit of how the Brighton Division of the Boston Municipal Court handled decisions about whether defendants were poor enough to receive state-paid legal help.

“The Brighton Division of the Boston Municipal Court (BMC) was one of the 27 courts selected for our review.”

The Auditor was reviewing the public counsel system and checked selected courts to see whether probation staff were properly deciding who qualified as indigent.

“The objective of our work at each district court was limited to determining the extent to which probation staff in these courts were complying with their mandated responsibility established by Chapter 211D to ensure that a defendant claiming to be indigent meets the definition of indigence.”

If eligibility is not checked, public money for legal defense may go to people who do not qualify, while the state cannot prove the spending was proper.

“As a result of these conditions, there is inadequate assurance that all of the state-sponsored legal counsel services that the BMC provided to 1,159 defendants during fiscal year 2010 were appropriate.”

For an ordinary taxpayer, the issue is whether public dollars for court-appointed lawyers are being protected and used only for eligible defendants.

“As a result of these conditions, there is inadequate assurance that the funding provided to the CPCS to retain public counsel for the 1,159 individuals deemed indigent by the BMC in fiscal year 2010 was appropriately spent.”

The court’s probation department was not meeting legal requirements for checking and documenting indigency decisions.

“We also found that the Probation Department was not in compliance with Chapter 211D of the General Laws in terms of ensuring that a defendant claiming to be indigent meets the definition of indigence as defined by Rule 3:10, Section 1, of the Supreme Judicial Court.”

The Auditor recommended that the probation department immediately follow the law, create written procedures, add internal controls, and fix record-retention practices.

“In order to address our concerns relative to this matter, we recommend that the BMC Probation Department take measures to immediately comply with all the requirements of Chapter 211D of the General Laws.”

The finding is significant because the problem affected a court that provided public counsel to 1,159 people in fiscal year 2010, without enough assurance that all were eligible.

“During this same period, the BMC provided legal counsel services to 1,159 of these individuals determined to be indigent by the BMC Probation Department.”

“Indigency determination” means deciding whether a defendant is financially unable to pay for a lawyer and therefore qualifies for state-sponsored counsel.

“Chapter 211D charges the CPCS with the responsibility of providing legal counsel services to indigent persons entitled to representation by law.”