Hillsborough County v. Unterberger

In Hillsborough County v. Unterberger, 534 So. 2d 838 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988), the Second District reversed the trial court's determination that the $ 40 hourly rate established by the chief judge was unconstitutional, because there had been no showing the $ 40 rate denied adequate representation of indigent criminal defendants or that the rights to counsel were violated. The counsel in Unterberger relied upon evidence of the cost of overhead and the fair market value of his services but the court rejected this approach focusing instead on whether "the hourly rate fixed by the chief judge of the circuit deprives indigent criminal defendants of effective counsel and is thus, unconstitutional." Id. at 842. The Unterberger court concluded that, "unless that rate impacts on the rights of indigent criminal defendants we are not free to declare the rate unconstitutional." Id.