State v. Morgan

Defendant Seth Morgan appeals from a district court order that requires defendant to pay the clerk of the court $513.00 within sixty days to repay the state for the services of appointed counsel. He contends that he has no ability to pay this money. We reverse and remand for additional findings.

Before considering the circumstances of this case, we examine the statutory framework for appointment of counsel. The public defender statute creates a three-step procedure for consideration of the applicant’s financial circumstances. In the first step, the court determines whether the applicant is…