Problem
Indigents are defendants who cannot afford to pay a lawyer and, therefore, are entitled to a lawyer for free. Although the Supreme Court has essentially mandated the development of indigent-defense systems, it has left the financing and type of delivery system up to states and counties, which have considerable discretion in adopting programs (Worden and Worden 1989). How best to provide legal representation for the poor has been a long-standing issue for the courts and the legal profession. In the United States, the three primary methods are assigned counsel, contract systems, and public defender. The assigned counsel method is: attorneys hired to provide services for a specified dollar amount. a salaried public official representing all indigent defendants. attorneys appointed by the judge on a case-by-case basis. None of these answers is correct.