Lincoln County Fiscal Court v. Department of Public Advocacy

WINTERSHEIMER, Justice.

This appeal is from a decision of the Court of Appeals which reversed an order of the circuit court which had required the Department of Public Advocacy to pay for the costs of private mental health experts in the defense of an indigent imprisoned defendant.

The issue is who is responsible to pay for an indigent defendant’s mental health experts when that defendant is confined in a state correctional institution.

At the time the criminal defendant requested the payment of costs for mental health experts, he was already confined in a state correctional institution. His…