35-5-8: Magistrate court; indigency standard; fee schedule; reimbursement.

A. The magistrate court shall use a standard adopted by the public defender department to determine indigency of persons accused of crimes carrying a possible jail sentence.

B. The magistrate court shall use a fee schedule adopted by the public defender department when appointing attorneys to represent defendants who are financially unable to obtain private counsel.

C. The magistrate court shall order reimbursement from each person who has received or desires to receive legal representation or another benefit under the Public Defender Act [Chapter 31, Article 15 NMSA 1978] after a determination is made that he was not indigent according to the standard for indigency adopted by the public defender department.

D. Any amounts recovered pursuant to this section shall be paid to the state treasurer for credit to the general fund.