Administration of justice: county costs: nonhomicide criminal trials.

Existing law authorizes a county that is responsible for the cost of a trial or trials or any hearing of a person for the offense of homicide to apply to the Controller for reimbursement of the costs incurred by the county in excess of a specified amount subject to certain limitations. Existing law defines "costs incurred by the county" to mean, among other things, all costs, including the trial or trials of a person or persons for the offense of homicide, including costs incurred by the district attorney in investigation and prosecution, by the sheriff in investigation, by the public defender or court-appointed attorney or attorneys in investigation and defense, and all other costs incurred by the county in connection with bringing the person or persons to trial, including the trial itself. Existing law authorizes the Controller to establish rules and regulations to carry out these provisions. This bill would, when the Attorney General is handling the investigation and prosecution of a nonhomicide crime in a county, as specified, authorize the county that is responsible for the defense costs of a trial or trials or any hearing of a person for the offense of a nonhomicide crime to apply to the Controller for reimbursement of the defense costs incurred by the county subject to those same limitations. The bill would make this authorization applicable to any nonhomicide criminal trial or trials or any hearing commencing on or after January 1, 2012. The bill would authorize the Controller to adopt rules and regulations to carry out these provisions. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.