Worker comp, death penalty bills signed by Guinn

A bill to give higher benefits to some workers injured on the job was signed into law Monday by Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn.

AB438 provides for an annual increase in the compensation paid to workers who suffer permanent total disabilities in on-the-job accidents.

The bill provides for an annual 2.3 percent increase in the award given to those workers who suffered permanent disabilities. The increase would start next January and then continue each year.

Guinn also signed AB17, which raises the rate paid to court-appointed defense attorneys in death penalty cases to $125 an hour. The old rate was $75 an hour.

The maximum fee allowed was changed to $20,000, up from $12,000.

Court-appointed attorneys in other criminal cases will be paid $100 an hour, up from $75.

The bill also requires that courts appoint a team of lawyers, not just one, to represent defendants in death penalty cases.