State v. Albert

OPINION

MATTHEWS, Justice.

In Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335, 83 S.Ct. 792, 9 L.Ed.2d 799 (1963), the United States Supreme Court held that in state criminal prosecutions “counsel must be provided for defendants unable to employ counsel” because of indigency. 372 U.S. at 340, 83 S.Ct. at 794. Gideon, however, did not address the subject of whether states could attempt to recover from indigent defendants some of the costs of providing counsel to them. Currently, all states and the federal government have some type of cost recoupment system. 1 Consolidated cases presently before this court…