The Executive Council tabled a request to more than triple spending for legal counsel for some indigent offenders after a court administrator admitted Wednesday the judicial branch lacks a process to verify a defendant’s claim of eligibility.

The state Judicial Council requested approval to increasing the $2 million set aside for the program in the current budget year to $7.5 million.

The account pays for services that court-assigned lawyers provide to represent clients that the New Hampshire Public Defenders Program can’t serve due to a conflict with a case or because there is no one on a list of court-contracted lawyers available to take it.

Executive Director Jay Buckey said currently there are 250 defendants without that counsel with 80 housed in county or state jails.

The progra

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