Legal Question in Criminal Law in Georgia

Contact the local public defender's office and the state bar. Court appointed counsel cannot ask you for fees. (The state can, if it later decides you could have afforded counsel).

Before you contact the PD's office or the State bar of Georgia make sure you know what you are talking about. A court appointed attorney is not the same thing as a public defender. Public defenders cannot accept money and cannot work on your out of county matter. Conversely, a court appointed attorney can be appointed on your drug case in Fayette County and receive a fee from you to work on your violation of probation in Hall County, because those are two different matters. If the court appointed attorney is asking for money to represent you on the charges the court appointed was assigned to work on, then he is doing something wrong. If you ask the court appointed attorney if you can get a better deal if you hire the attorney privately, and the court appointed attorney quotes you a fee, that is NOT the same as teh attorney asking for money. Make sure you get the story straight. Good luck.