If the number of cases at the end of June 2009 — the end of the fiscal year — is what was expected, Muskogee County’s indigent defense attorneys will make about $191.32 per case.

For 10 years, the Muskogee County contract to give legal representation to indigent defendants has been awarded to Roger Hilfiger, the lowest bidder.

The Oklahoma Indigent Defense System accepts those bids. The cost of the contract during that time for all court-appointed, non-capital criminal cases in Muskogee County was for:

• FY-2007 through FY-2010 — $225,000 each year.

• FY-2004 through FY-2006 — $210,000 each year.

• FY-2001 through FY-2003 — $225,000 each year.

• FY-1999 through FY-2000 — $185,000 each year.

• FY-1998 — $175,000.

The reason for the drop in Hilfiger’s bid for the contract in FY-2004 through FY-2006 may have been more competition for the contract, OIDS officials said.

OIDS was appointed under state law.

Caseloads have increased, and there has been an upswing in the numbers since the economy took a nosedive, said one of the attorneys who does 30 percent of the indigent defense cases here, Jay Cook.

Approximately 75 of the cases assigned to the Muskogee County contract are felony cases, said Tim Laughlin, chief of the Non-capital Trial Division of the OIDS. Other cases involve juveniles, traffic or misdemeanors, he said.

“We anticipate the Muskogee County contract will have been assigned a total of 1,176 cases by the end of Fiscal Year 2009 (June 30, 2009)” Laughlin said.

At the above number of assignments, the Muskogee County contract is paid $191.32 per case, Laughlin said. The state average — about $232 per case, he said.

Payments on the county contracts are made in 12 monthly payments.