Kathleen M. Dougherty is the executive director of the Onondaga County Bar Association Assigned Counsel Program.
Open Letter to Sens John Mannion and Rachel May; and Assembly members Will Barclay, John Lemondes, Pam Hunter, Bill Magnarelli and Al Stirpe:
It was with great disappointment that I learned that Gov. Kathy Hochul’s final state budget did not include any amendments to county law article 18-b or the Family Court Act regarding compensation for assigned counsel and attorneys for the child (AFCs). Nor did the budget include any funding for an increase in the hourly rates. Almost as upsetting, there seems to be no clear reason given for the failure to include the increase, especially in light of the fact that it was in both the Senate and Assembly one-house budgets.
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