82nd Legislature Slashes Funding Eleven Texas counties received approximately $2.68 million in state matching funds in 2011 to help offset the cost of indigent health care, according to the latest Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) County Indigent Health Care Program (CIHCP) spending data report. The Indigent Health Care and Treatment Act [...]
Formula Grant Applications Due Nov. 15 Some 10 years ago Gov. Rick Perry signed into law the Texas Fair Defense Act, which among other things created the Texas Task Force on Indigent Defense (TFID). As of Sept. 1, the TFID was renamed the Texas Indigent Defense Commission (Commission). The original TFID was tasked with assisting [...]
During the 82nd Legislature’s Regular Session, the appropriations bill reduced funding for indigent defense to $54,674,013 for the biennium ($27.3 million each year), which reflects $8.6 million in cuts over the biennium, a 10 percent reduction of administrative budget over the biennium ($174,100), and the loss of one FTE (staff) position. Fortunately, the Legislature restored [...]
By Sharon Guzman, Director of Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments (TCOOMI) Services – Bluebonnet Trails On May 30, 2007, a man pulled a butcher knife on a police officer at a convenience store in Georgetown, Texas. The incident was caught on video by the security camera outside the store. [...]
County Indigent Health Care Programs Tap Into State Funds Training Sessions Open to County Judges, Commissioners Eleven Texas counties received approximately $2.5 million in state matching funds in 2010 to help offset the cost of indigent health care, according to the latest Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) County Indigent Health Care [...]
Tom Green County Indigent Health Care Program Adjustments Benefit County, Clients When it comes to managing her myriad of county duties, Dianna Spieker does not swap out her symbolic hats. Rather, she stacks them on top of one another. For example, as Tom Green County treasurer since 1999, Spieker is responsible for [...]
Five Counties Secure Discretionary Grant Money The Texas Task Force on Indigent Defense approved more than $2.5 million in new funding to five Texas counties to improve their indigent defense systems. Programs in Dickens and Lubbock counties will provide direct representation to the poor in rural counties, and improvements to indigent defense processes will [...]
The Task Force on Indigent Defense (Task Force) has developed a new process for submission of indigent defense plans resulting in a single, uniform, accessible indigent defense plan for each court level in each county that may be amended and searched, said Task Force Director Jim Bethke. The changes were initiated based on internal audit [...]
Several counties have reported receiving invoices from local funeral homes for transport of a body from the place of death to the funeral home. These “first call” events generally occur in response to a telephone call from a county law enforcement officer or justice of the peace. The legal status of these claims is determined [...]
Ten Texas counties received approximately $2.6 million in state matching funds in 2007 to help offset the cost of indigent health care, said Jan Maberry, County Indigent Health Care Program (CIHCP) manager for the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). The Indigent Health Care and Treatment Act of 1985 requires counties that are not [...]
