Fall River District Court Probation Department's Indigency Determination Process for State-Sponsored Legal Services

This is a state audit of how Fall River District Court handled decisions about whether defendants qualified for state-paid legal help.

“The Fall River District Court (FDC) was one of the 27 courts selected for our review.”

The Auditor reviewed whether court probation staff were following state rules for checking claims of indigency before defendants received public counsel.

“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 properly, public money for lawyers 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 the funding provided to the CPCS to retain public counsel for the 5,471 individuals deemed indigent by the FDC in fiscal year 2010 was appropriately spent.”

For taxpayers, this audit is about whether public funds for legal defense were protected by basic checks and records.

“Our audit found that the FDC Probation Department has not established any formal, written policies and procedures relative to ensuring that only eligible individuals are provided with state-sponsored legal counsel services.”

The court lacked written procedures, did not routinely verify defendants’ financial information, and did not keep required records.

“We also found that, contrary to the requirements of Chapter 211D of the General Laws, the Probation Department does not routinely conduct verifications of information provided to it by defendants in order to ensure that these defendants are indigent and entitled to receive state-sponsored legal representation.”

Auditors recommended that Fall River’s Probation Department immediately follow the law, create written procedures, and set up controls to make sure staff comply.

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

The problem was not just paperwork: auditors said missing checks and missing files meant the court could not show that required eligibility reviews happened.

“Accordingly, there was inadequate assurance that the FDC Probation Department performed the required verification of the information provided by clients who applied for and received state-sponsored legal services.”

“Indigent” means a person cannot afford legal counsel under court rules; an “Affidavit of Indigency” is the sworn form where a defendant claims that status.

“The defendant must complete and sign an Affidavit of Indigency in which he/she asserts, under pain and penalty of perjury, that he/she is indigent.”