Section 79 CPCS Billing Change

Section 12 of said chapter 211D, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out subsections (a) and (b) and inserting in place thereof the following 2 subsections:-

(a) The committee shall establish policies and procedures to provide fair compensation to private counsel and vendors, which shall include a remedy for an attorney aggrieved by the amount of payment. The committee shall also establish an audit and oversight department to monitor billing and private attorney and vendor compensation. All private attorney bills shall be processed for payment within 30 days of receipt by the chief counsel, excluding any bills held for review or audit. Bills shall be submitted to the committee within 30 days from conclusion of a case or within 30 days after the end of such fiscal year during which the legal services were provided whichever date is earlier. Bills submitted after such dates need not be processed for payment within 30 days. The amount of payment for bills received by the chief counsel more than 30 days but less than 60 days from conclusion of a case, or after the end of such fiscal year during which the legal services were provided, whichever date is earlier, shall be reduced by 10 per cent. All bills submitted after 60 days shall not be processed for payment; provided, however, that the chief counsel may authorize the payment of such bills, either in whole or in part, upon a determination that the delay was due to extraordinary circumstances beyond the control of the attorney.

(b) Bills shall be submitted to the committee for services provided under sections 27A to 27G, inclusive, of chapter 261 within 30 days of the last date of service or within 30 days after the end of such fiscal year during which the services were provided, whichever date is earlier. The amount of payment for invoices received by the chief counsel more than 30 days but less than 60 days from the last date of service, or after the end of such fiscal year during which services were provided, whichever date is earlier, shall be reduced by 10 per cent. All bills submitted after 60 days shall not be processed for payment; provided, however, that the chief counsel may authorize the payment of such bills either in whole or in part upon a determination that the delay was due to extraordinary circumstances beyond the control of the vendor.

This section shortens the time period in which bills can be submitted by private bar advocates to CPCS for reimbursement after the end of a case so as to have the same time period apply for both end-of-case and end-of-fiscal year billing.