(a) In all criminal cases where an indigent defendant has an appeal directly to an appellate court and the indigent defendant expresses his or her desire to appeal, the court shall enter a recital of notice of appeal in its minutes.
(b) If it appears that the indigent defendant desires to appeal, is unable financially or otherwise to obtain the assistance of counsel on appeal, and expresses the desire for assistance of counsel, the trial court shall appoint counsel to represent and assist the indigent defendant on appeal through the indigent defense system for such cases. If the trial court fails to appoint counsel and it becomes necessary to further provide for counsel, the presiding judge of the court to which the appeal is taken shall have authority to appoint counsel through the indigent defense system. It shall be the duty of the counsel, as an officer of the court and as a member of the bar, to represent and assist the indigent defendant in the appeal.
(c)(1) If appointed counsel is the appropriate method selected for an indigent defendant for the appeal from a decision in any trial court proceeding, he or she shall be entitled to receive for his or her services a fee to be approved by the office.
(2)a. The amount of the fee shall be based on the number of hours spent by the attorney in working on the prosecution of the appeal and shall be computed at the rate of eighty-five dollars ($85) per hour for time reasonably expended in the prosecution of the appeal, and any subsequent petition for writ of certiorari.
b. Notwithstanding paragraph a., the total fees awarded to any one attorney in any appeal and any subsequent petition for writ of certiorari shall not exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000), and shall be in addition to any fees awarded on the trial court level.
c. In those cases where the state takes a pretrial appeal, appointed counsel shall be entitled to bill separately for services on the pretrial and post-trial appeals, up to two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) for each appeal.
d. In those cases where a petition for writ of certiorari is filed in the Alabama Supreme Court, counsel shall be entitled to bill separately for all services rendered after the Court of Criminal Appeals or the Court of Civil Appeals overrules the application for rehearing, or after the decision of the Court of Criminal Appeals or the Court of Civil Appeals in the case of a pretrial appeal, up to a separate limit of five thousand dollars ($5,000).
(3) Notwithstanding subdivision (2), the maximum amounts set forth in subdivision (2) may be waived by the appropriate appellate court and the director for good cause shown.
(4) Counsel shall also be entitled to be reimbursed for any nonoverhead expenses reasonably incurred in the representation of his or her client, with any expense in excess of three hundred dollars ($300) subject to advance approval by the appellate court as necessary for the indigent defense services and as a reasonable cost or expense and shall be paid directly by the office upon submission from the attorney.
(5) Reimbursable expenses shall not include overhead expenses.
(6) Fees and expenses of all experts, investigators, and others rendering indigent defense services to be used by counsel for an indigent defendant shall be approved in advance by the appellate court as necessary for the indigent defense services and as a reasonable cost or expense.
(7) Upon review, the director may authorize interim payment of the attorney fees or expenses, or both.
(8) Within a reasonable time after the disposition of the appeal, not to exceed 120 days, counsel shall submit a bill for services rendered to the office for review and approval and, if approved, the office shall recommend the bill for payment by the state Comptroller.
(Acts 1963, No. 526, p. 1136, §§4, 5; Acts 1971, No. 2420, p. 3851; Acts 1981, No. 81-717, p. 1204, §3; Acts 1984, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 84-793, p. 198, §1; Act 99-427, p. 759, §1; Act 2011-678, p. 1862, §6; Act 2024-161, §1.)
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
9
cases, 1979–2009 · leading case:
Sparks v. Parker, 368 So. 2d 528 (Ala. 1979).
Sparks v. Parker, 368 So. 2d 528 (Ala. 1979).
· cites it 2× “) § 15-12-22. SameAppeals. (a) In all criminal cases wherein a defendant has been convicted of a serious offense in which an appeal lies directly to the supreme court or court of criminal appeals and the defendant expresses his desire to appeal such conviction, the court shall…”
State v. Martin, 56 So. 3d 709 (Ala. Crim. App. 2009).
· cites it 3× “Mof-fitt, supra, and see § 15-12-22 Code of Alabama 1975, as amended.”
Lewis v. Hitt, 370 So. 2d 1369 (Ala. 1979).
“" (referring to § 15-12-20) (emphasis added); and *1372 §§ 15-12-22(c) and 15-12-23(c)(d) are cast in similar terms.”
Davis v. State, 529 So. 2d 1070 (Ala. Crim. App. 1988).
“) The trial court is not required to appoint trial counsel to represent the defendant on appeal under § 15-12-22(b), Code of Alabama (1975), which provides for the appointment of counsel on appeal for indigent appellants.”
State v. Roberts, 614 S.E.2d 626 (S.C. 2005).
“" Ala.Code § 15-12-22(b) (1975). The Alabama Supreme Court found that these sections do not require that an appellant in a criminal case proceed with his appeal through counsel, but instead confer upon a defendant in a criminal case the right to represent himself on appeal if he…”
Nelson v. State, 517 So. 2d 644 (Ala. Crim. App. 1987).
“I This court has carefully considered the transcript in this cause and the orders handed down by the trial court. We are of the view that counsel who represented the appellant at the original trial should have perfected an appeal of the ruling of the trial judge denying his…”
Samra v. State, 771 So. 2d 1108 (Ala. Crim. App. 1999).
“With regard to *1113 appellate work, § 15-12-22(d) provides that counsel may be paid up to $1,000 for services performed on an appeal to this court and up to $1,000 for services performed on an appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court, in addition to reimbursement for any expenses…”
Mabry v. Norris, 784 So. 2d 1060 (Ala. Civ. App. 2000).
“Section 15-12-22(d), Ala.Code 1975, the appellate counterpart to § 15-12-21 (d), specifically refers to services performed “after the Court of Criminal Appeals overrules the application for rehearing, or after the decision of the Court of Criminal Appeals in the case of a…”
State v. Balams, 796 So. 2d 383 (Ala. Crim. App. 1998).
“We note that § 15-12-22(e), which governs appointment and compensation of attorneys appointed to handle appeals, specifically states that the presiding judge or chief justice of the appropriate court, as the case may be, shall approve fee claims for that court.”
— Ala. Code § 15-12-22(b) — 2 cases
Davis v. State, 529 So. 2d 1070 (Ala. Crim. App. 1988).
“) The trial court is not required to appoint trial counsel to represent the defendant on appeal under § 15-12-22(b), Code of Alabama (1975), which provides for the appointment of counsel on appeal for indigent appellants.”
State v. Roberts, 614 S.E.2d 626 (S.C. 2005).
“" Ala.Code § 15-12-22(b) (1975). The Alabama Supreme Court found that these sections do not require that an appellant in a criminal case proceed with his appeal through counsel, but instead confer upon a defendant in a criminal case the right to represent himself on appeal if he…”
— Ala. Code § 15-12-22(c) — 1 case
Lewis v. Hitt, 370 So. 2d 1369 (Ala. 1979).
“" (referring to § 15-12-20) (emphasis added); and *1372 §§ 15-12-22(c) and 15-12-23(c)(d) are cast in similar terms.”
— Ala. Code § 15-12-22(d) — 2 cases
Samra v. State, 771 So. 2d 1108 (Ala. Crim. App. 1999).
“With regard to *1113 appellate work, § 15-12-22(d) provides that counsel may be paid up to $1,000 for services performed on an appeal to this court and up to $1,000 for services performed on an appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court, in addition to reimbursement for any expenses…”
Mabry v. Norris, 784 So. 2d 1060 (Ala. Civ. App. 2000).
“Section 15-12-22(d), Ala.Code 1975, the appellate counterpart to § 15-12-21 (d), specifically refers to services performed “after the Court of Criminal Appeals overrules the application for rehearing, or after the decision of the Court of Criminal Appeals in the case of a…”
— Ala. Code § 15-12-22(e) — 1 case
State v. Balams, 796 So. 2d 383 (Ala. Crim. App. 1998).
“We note that § 15-12-22(e), which governs appointment and compensation of attorneys appointed to handle appeals, specifically states that the presiding judge or chief justice of the appropriate court, as the case may be, shall approve fee claims for that court.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.