§ 15-12-25 — Reimbursement of Fees of Court Appointed Counsel by Defendant; Default

(a)(1) A court may require a convicted defendant to pay the fees of court appointed counsel. Fees of court appointed counsel for the purposes of this section, shall mean any attorney’s fees and expenses paid an appointed counsel, contract counsel, or public defender.
(2) The court shall not order a defendant to pay the fees of court appointed counsel unless the defendant is or will be able to pay them. In determining the amount and method of payment of these fees, the court shall take into account the financial resources of the defendant and the nature of the burden that payment of the fees will impose. A defendant who has been ordered to pay the fees of court appointed counsel and who is not in contumacious default in the payment thereof may at any time petition the court which sentenced him or her for remission of the payment of these fees or of any unpaid portion thereof. If it appears to the satisfaction of the court that payment of the amount due will impose manifest hardship on the defendant or the immediate family of the defendant, the court may remit all or part of the amount due in fees or modify the method of payment.
(b)(1) When a defendant is ordered to pay the fees of court appointed counsel, the court may grant permission for payment to be made in a specified period of time or in specified installments. If permission is not included in the order these fees shall be payable forthwith.
(2) When a defendant ordered to pay the fees of court appointed counsel is also placed on probation or imposition or execution of sentence is suspended the court may make payment of the fees a condition of probation or suspension of sentence.
(c)(1) When a defendant ordered to pay the fees of court appointed counsel defaults in the payment thereof or of any installment, the court on motion of the district attorney or upon its own motion may require the defendant to show cause why the default should not be treated as contempt of court, and may issue a show cause citation or a warrant of arrest for his or her appearance.
(2) Unless the defendant shows that the default was not attributable to an intentional refusal to obey the order of the court or to a failure on his or her part to make a good faith effort to make payment, the court may find that the default constitutes contempt and may order the defendant imprisoned as otherwise provided by law.
(3) If it appears to the satisfaction of the court that the default in a payment of the fees of court appointed counsel is not contempt, the court may enter an order allowing the defendant additional time for payment, or reducing the amount of each installment, or revoking these fees or the unpaid portion thereof in whole or in part.
(4) A default in the payment of the fees of court appointed counsel or any installment thereof may be collected by any means authorized by law for the enforcement of a judgment. The issuance of a writ of execution for the collection of these fees shall not discharge a defendant committed to imprisonment for contempt until the amount of these fees has actually been collected.
(d) Moneys collected for fees and expenses incurred by the state in furnishing representation to a convicted defendant shall be collected by the clerk of the court and shall be payable to the Fair Trial Tax Fund, in the same manner as provided in Section 12-19-251.

Legislative History

(Acts 1981, No. 81-717, p. 1204, §6; Acts 1995, No. 95-757, p. 1770, §1.)