The counties are off the hook for housing conflict counsels: first DCA says state must pay for court appointed lawyers.

It is the state's responsibility to fund the operations of the Offices of the Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsels, according to the First District Court of Appeal.

Acting July 17, a three-judge panel of the First DCA unanimously upheld a Second Circuit ruling that found that the Legislature ran afoul of the Florida Constitution by requiring counties to house the OCCCRCs.

"Because we find no significant legal difference between the Regional Confl ict Counsel system and the previous private court-appointed counsel system, we conclude that Section 19 of Chapter 2007-62, Laws of Florida, stands inconsistent with the Constitution's language and the framers' intent," Judge Charles Kahn wrote for the court. "Section 19 attempts to require counties to fund Regional Conflict Counsel's overhead costs. Article V, Section 14(c), however, clearly requires the state to fund such costs."

The five regional law offices were created by the 2007 Legislature supposedly as a cheaper way to handle multi-defendant criminal cases when the public defender has a conflict--rather than farming them out to a registry of private lawyers in each circuit.

Section 19 of Chapter 2007-62 amended [section]29.008, to include Regional Conflict Counsel within the term "public defenders' offices." Thus, the Legislature effectively mandated that counties pay certain constitutionally defined costs to house the offices of both the public defender and Regional Conflict Counsel.

The counties, however, argued that Art. V, [section]14, limits the Legislature's intent and imposes funding responsibility for court-appointed counsel wholly upon the state. The counties further argued that was beyond the Legislature's power to enact a statute that attempts to modify or enlarge a constitutionally defined term.

The First DCA agreed, holding that [section]19 unconstitutionally shifts the funding responsibility for certain costs of court-appointed counsel from the state to the counties.

"We hold the act unconstitutional also because the Legislature failed to make the constitutionally required determination of an important state interest," Judge Kahn said.

Art. V, [section]14, provides: "Funding for the state courts system, state attorneys' offices, public defenders' offices, and court-appointed counsel, except in subsection (c), shall be provided from state revenues appropriated by general law." Subsection (c) provides, in part: "Counties shall be required to fund the cost of...