Governor Branstad today signed SF 209, providing supplemental appropriations to the Iowa Indigent Defense Fund. See the release here. He did line-item veto certain portions of the bill, but he left the supplemental appropriations intact. It’s over…for now.
This entry was posted on Thursday, April 21st, 2011 at 3:43 pm and is filed under Indigent Defense Fund. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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I just spoke with Julie at the Dept of Corrections and Appeals. She handles indigent claim payments. She stated that the money approved by the governor should be in the proper account today. After that there are 3400 claims that her office needs to approve, then the claims are sent to the Department of Administrative Services for their approval. Next, they are sent back to her office for accounting. Her best guess is that we should see checks in our mailboxes in 4-5 working days.
The e-mail my husband got from the SPD this AM, and all of you should have received, said that the checks should arrive in the next 1-2 business days. He was under the impression that the checks were actually cut and they were waiting for the release of the funding to actually mail the checks. It also said that they would be figuring the interest on all bills that are older than 60 days and a separate check would go out at a later date. I was under the impression that the interest was suppose to be on bills that 6 weeks late which would be 45 days, not 60 days.
This is such a step in the right direction. However I would like to raise another issue. The American’s with Disabilities Act is supposed to insure that reasonable accommodations are granted to all disabled people. However, there are NO accommodations for mentally disabled people. Especially in the courts. If you commit a crime and are poor, you are given a public defender. This is fair.
However if you are disabled, poor and need to file a civil case to protect yourself from abuse for your landlord, AND have a mental disability, you are denied access to a court appointed lawyer!
All this does is send the message that the only way to get justice is to first kill your landlord so the abuse will STOP and then rely on the state to pay for a public defender for you. This is STUPID!
I get very upset when I hear things like “stop the violence.” I say, Stop the Stupid and the violence will take care of itself. I am not advocating violence but I am pointing out the need to further protect disabled and seniors from abuse and discrimination.
The determination of the need for legal services and the choice of a lawyer are extremely important decisions and should not be based solely upon advertisements or self-proclaimed expertise. This disclosure is required by rule of the Supreme Court of Iowa. A description or indication of limitation of practice does not mean that any agency or board has certified such lawyer as a specialist or expert in an indicated field of law practice, nor does it mean that such lawyer is necessarily any more expert or competent than any other lawyer. Memberships and offices in legal fraternities and legal societies, technical and professional licenses, and memberships in scientific, technical and professional associations and societies of law or field of practice does not mean that a lawyer is a specialist or expert in a field of law, nor does it mean that such lawyer is necessarily more expert or competent than any other lawyer. All potential clients are urged to make their own independent investigation and evaluation of any lawyer being considered. This notice is required by rule of the Supreme Court of Iowa.
This is what we needed. We need to stay active to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
I just spoke with Julie at the Dept of Corrections and Appeals. She handles indigent claim payments. She stated that the money approved by the governor should be in the proper account today. After that there are 3400 claims that her office needs to approve, then the claims are sent to the Department of Administrative Services for their approval. Next, they are sent back to her office for accounting. Her best guess is that we should see checks in our mailboxes in 4-5 working days.
Thanks for the update Frank.
The e-mail my husband got from the SPD this AM, and all of you should have received, said that the checks should arrive in the next 1-2 business days. He was under the impression that the checks were actually cut and they were waiting for the release of the funding to actually mail the checks. It also said that they would be figuring the interest on all bills that are older than 60 days and a separate check would go out at a later date. I was under the impression that the interest was suppose to be on bills that 6 weeks late which would be 45 days, not 60 days.
This is such a step in the right direction. However I would like to raise another issue. The American’s with Disabilities Act is supposed to insure that reasonable accommodations are granted to all disabled people. However, there are NO accommodations for mentally disabled people. Especially in the courts. If you commit a crime and are poor, you are given a public defender. This is fair.
However if you are disabled, poor and need to file a civil case to protect yourself from abuse for your landlord, AND have a mental disability, you are denied access to a court appointed lawyer!
All this does is send the message that the only way to get justice is to first kill your landlord so the abuse will STOP and then rely on the state to pay for a public defender for you. This is STUPID!
I get very upset when I hear things like “stop the violence.” I say, Stop the Stupid and the violence will take care of itself. I am not advocating violence but I am pointing out the need to further protect disabled and seniors from abuse and discrimination.