Capital Collateral Regional Councils seek teams, case-cost funding and competitive-area differential for South region
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Summary
Suzanne Keffer, Capital Collateral Regional Counsel for the Southern Region, requested funding for additional litigation teams in the North and Middle CCRCs to handle rising post-conviction caseloads, and asked for a competitive-area differential for CCRC South.
Suzanne Keffer, Capital Collateral Regional Counsel for the Southern Region, presented a multi-part budget request for the three Capital Collateral Regional Councils (CCRCs) that handle post-conviction death-penalty litigation.
Keffer told the subcommittee the CCRCs are statutorily required by Florida Statute 27.702 to represent inmates sentenced to death in post-conviction appeals and federal habeas litigation. She described a team-model practice (lead attorney, second-chair attorney and investigator) and said the councils face increasing caseloads.
CCRC North reported a 50% increase in caseload since fiscal year 2020–21 and requested an additional litigation team (lead attorney, second chair and investigator) at a cost of $405,873 plus $180,000 for increased case-related costs. CCRC Middle has seen its annual new-case assignments double (from about five to about ten) and requested reclassification of two positions to attorney roles at a cost the speaker put at $281,780, plus $75,000 in case-related funding.
CCRC South asked for a competitive-area differential (CAD) of $211,904, noting that every state attorney office in CCRC South’s jurisdiction had received CAD in the prior session and that unequal pay hampers recruitment for capital-post-conviction work.
Keffer said the total request across the three CCRCs is a little over $1.2 million. Senators did not vote on the requests at the session; Keffer said she would provide detail if committee members sought it.