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In states without bail reform, underpaying indigent defense just costs even more money to house people waiting for trial. But they'd rather fund jails than justice.

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Good luck in your review, thanks for digging into this.

Wisconsin is attempting to change laws right now (in SB309 here; https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2023/proposals/sb309) so that people on supervision are automatically revocated when accused of a crime, and those who are preemptively incarcerated on revocation ARE DENIED ACCESS to counsel. Truly awful direction to be heading.

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What is the legal definition of indigent, does it have a price tag? Do undocumented immigrants fall into the indigent category or is there a separate category for them?

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There is no uniform legal definition of "indigent." Generally speaking, indigent refers to a person who can't afford to hire counsel. Determining who meets this standard varies from state to state and even county to county in some states.

Counsel determinations in criminal proceedings do not (and can not) consider immigration status, so if an undocumented immigrant is arrested and can't afford to hire counsel they will be entitled to a public defender (in whatever form public defense is delivered in that jurisdiction). NOTE: the foregoing does not apply to deportation proceedings as those are considered administrative hearings not criminal proceedings protected by the 6th and 14th Amendments. Hope this helps.

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