Navarro District and County Courts Plan
Navarro District and County Courts Plan
Preamble
6/27/2023
The following standards are designed to provide for a systematic method of appointing qualified counsel to indigents in criminal cases. These standards address principles of eligibility and certification for trial, writs of habeas corpus, revocations of probation and counsel on appeal.
Because Navarro County counsel as well as out-of-county counsel available for indigent criminal appointment numbers fewer than twenty individuals, the judges of Navarro County are completely familiar with the proficiency levels of all local counsel. These guidelines provide for a high level of discretion to be exercised by judges, based upon their almost daily review of the conduct of a small number of attorneys. Navarro County indigent practice has always incorporated considerable judicial discretion in the appointment of attorneys, and the jurists of Navarro County, historically, have used utmost care in balancing the rights of indigent defendants and varying levels of attorney proficiency to achieve adequate representation. No doubt, the great majority of judges who comprise the rural judiciary have executed the same care.