In re the Order for the Payment of Attorney Fees and Reimbursement of Expenses, State of Indiana v. Jeffrey Cook

OPINION

VAIDIK, Chief Judge.

Case Summary

Indiana Code section 33-37-2-4 governs the State’s liability for costs of offenses committed by inmates in state correctional facilities. Pursuant to this section, the trial court appointed both a public defender and appellate counsel for Jeffrey Cook, who stabbed to death another inmate at Pendleton Correctional Facility in Madison County, Indiana. Although the State did not contest paying Cook’s public defender $23,488.29 in attorney fees and expenses, it contested paying Cook’s appellate counsel $5232.35 in attorney fees and expenses. The State…