My experience is, each separate court proceeding requires a new indigency petition. Frequently, when an indigent person is already being prosecuted for one crime (or set of related crimes), additional charges will be filed against them for unrelated crimes. In particular, once someone has been processed after an arrest, fingerprints or DNA or other evidence from prior unsolved crimes may link the defendant to those prior crimes. If the defendant has already been declared indigent on charges that are still pending, the defendant doesn't need to be declared indigent again on the new charges. However, if there is a time gap i.e. the criminal charges are resolved and any sentence has been completed then year or two goes by then new charges are filed, there would be a new indigency petition.When one is declared indigent by a court order as Casey Anthony was in 2010, is there a time limit on it. Is it renewed every so many years? My question really is ... how does one become un-indigent(?) (probably not a word solvent maybe.) Does one have to return to court to have the indigent order lifted?
I appreciate all of the attorneys taking time to answer questions.
I have never personally seen a situation where a person is declared indigent then, prior to the criminal case being resolved, they are declared un-indigent. I suppose some county or state or court administrator could file a petition alleging that the defendant was no longer indigent because they had just won the lottery or inherited a fortune or whatever. I don't know who would be in charge of doing that, however.
Also, it doesn't have to be all or nothing. Here in California, a person may qualify for the services of the Public Defender if they can't afford to hire a private attorney but they may be required to pay some fees/costs based on their income level. Kind of a sliding scale. And they can arrange a payment plan to pay those fees/costs.
Katprint
Always only my own opinions