The Nevada Senate voted unanimously Thursday for legislation revising standards for court-appointed defense teams in death penalty cases, and giving all court-appointed lawyers a pay raise.
AB17 requires court-appointed defense for capital trials to include two attorneys, as well as any other needed experts. Lawyers appointed by the court in those cases also would get a $50-an-hour pay raise, to $125.
All other court-appointed lawyers would get a raise to $100 per hour under an amendment by Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno. AB17 also would increase the cap on court-appointed lawyer fees to $20,000 from $12,000 in death penalty cases.
Some counties have complained that the bill creates an unfunded mandate and they would be unable to pay the lawyers the new fees.
The measure heads back to the Assembly, where a version without the Raggio's broad court-appointed lawyer raise was approved 37-3.
