Request a Specific Montgomery County Court Appointed Attorney
““The report found that some defendants who received personal bonds were not asked if they wanted to request appointed counsel at the Article 15.17 hearing. Counsel appointments were not always timely. The report made findings regarding the timely appointment of counsel in felony, misdemeanor, and juvenile cases. In misdemeanor cases, some counsel requests were not ruled upon prior to a defendant’s waiver of counsel.” ”
The process of how to Request a Specific Montgomery County Court Appointed Attorney:
Being arrested is scary therefore it is reasonable that an Accused should should have a minimal amount of CHOICE in their appointed attorney.
Montgomery County utilizes Court Appointed Attorneys taken off a “rotating wheel” and which comply with the local Indigent Defense Plan.
This “rotating wheel” is technically managed by the Courts but daily operations is left to the County Office of Indigent Defense.
But remember, the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure 26.04 allows a Judge to bypass the next attorney on that county’s appointment “list” for “good cause” thus it is reasonable to assume that especially early on an Indigent Defendant has the right to “request” a particular Attorney that is already on the “rotating wheel”. This “request” is subject to the Judges discretion based on “good cause” being whatever that Judge considers “good cause”.
This type of “request” can be made orally in court but it is recommended that a written motion making such request instead be filed. The earlier in the process this occurs, hopefully being even before Arraignment, increases the probability of success.
Suggestion: Reach out to some of the court appointed attorneys (aka…shop) then simply advise the Court that you did your due diligence and are asking for a specific attorney of your choosing under “good cause”. At worst the Court denies and at best the Court grants the request.
Here is the Local Indigent Defense Plan which is fairly clearly describes the process of appointing local counsel located directly below.
Again, at worst the Court simply says no and appoints the next available attorney.
And finally, Montgomery County has at times issues in providing Court Appointed Attorneys and attempts to negate this requirement. As the quote above shows a 2024 Texas Indigent Defense Commission annotated the County’s efforts or process to avoid appointing counsel likely in an effort to save costs. Thus make a request for Court Appointed Counsel as early as possible. In sum, do not be afraid to request Appointed counsel early if needed.
Here is the list of attorney’s accepting court appointments in Montgomery County, TX - Coming Soon.