Configuration
Your process.
Your standards.
Every defender office runs its court day a little differently, and every system has its own standards. First Appearance holds both as settings a unit edits, not as code someone has to change.
The standardsThe rules a unit answers to, held as settings with the date each takes effect.
- Caseload caps
- Annual caps by case level, each with a start and end date. A new standard is a new row, and last year's report still uses last year's cap.
- Case levels
- Each offense carries its level, from life offense to traffic misdemeanor, and the case takes the level of its most serious count.
- Deadlines
- Windows between events, anchored to what starts the clock, with minimum and maximum days, the authority cited, and the case levels they apply to.
- Reporting contact
- Who signs the quarterly report, their title, and the region and court codes the report carries.
- Court-reported figures
- Figures only the court can supply are entered by quarter and reported beside the measured ones.
- Work done elsewhere
- Another agency's caseload for the same attorney is imported and counted against the cap.
The unit's own processHow this office runs its court day.
- Hearing types
- The hearings this unit's courts hold, in the order they happen, and which are by video by default.
- Outcomes
- What can happen at each type of hearing, and what each outcome does next: schedule a hearing, close the case, or record a result. The consequences preview before they save.
- What a hearing is about
- The kinds of allegation a violation hearing can concern.
- Courts and judges
- Each bench with its address, phone, and video room details, and the judges who sit there.
- Jails and prosecutors
- The facilities the roster covers and the prosecutors who appear.
- Bond conditions
- The conditions this unit's courts set, ready to tick.
- Fiscal year and time zone
- When the unit's year starts, which drives quarters and reports, and the local time zone for every date.
- Scheduled email
- Whether the morning email goes out automatically.
MoneyRates, periods, and categories that match the unit's contract.
- Billing rates
- A rate for each case category and for the duty day, each with the dates it applies.
- Billing categories
- The kinds of work an attorney bills, named the way the unit's contract names them.
- Billing periods
- Periods the unit defines, so approval and invoicing follow its own calendar.
- Attorney tiers
- Each attorney's qualification tier, kept as history, so a past report sees the tier that applied then.
- Availability
- Which case levels each attorney is taking, changed as often as they like.
The screeningThe indigency test, with the unit's own thresholds.
- Poverty guideline
- The federal guideline by household size for each year, and the multiplier the unit applies to it.
- What counsel costs locally
- The typical retainer by case level, which assets are weighed against.
- Screening dropdowns
- The answer lists on the screening form, edited to match local practice.
Documents and messagesThe unit's own paperwork, filled from the record.
- Document templates
- Letters and filings the unit writes once and generates for any case.
- Court forms
- PDF court forms mapped to the record, so they fill themselves.
- Document kinds
- How uploaded documents are labeled and grouped on the case file.
- Resource categories
- How the shared shelf of files is organized.
PeopleWho signs in, and what each person may reach.
- Roles
- Administrator, office staff, attorney, attorney staff, reports only, and read only. Each one is a different reach into the record, enforced by the database.
- Budget
- What the unit expects to spend in each fiscal year, which the spending report measures against.
- Region
- Which region the unit belongs to, for regional reports by a state office.
- Counsel at first appearance
- Which attorney is on duty, by day, which opens the court day screens to them.
- Day summary
- Who receives the whole court day at end of day, chosen per person rather than by role.
- Email preferences
- Each attorney chooses which emails they get and where they go. Each staff member has their own settings too.
- Several units
- One login can work in several units, each with its own role, switching between them.
A standard is a row
What a deadline looks like as a setting
These are the felony deadlines one Michigan unit runs on. A different rule, or a different state's rule, is a different row. The case file computes each window from it and shows the citation beside the date.
| Event | Counted from | Window | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Probable cause conference | Arraignment | 7 to 14 days | MCL 766.4(1); MCR 6.104(E)(4) |
| Preliminary examination | Probable cause conference | 5 to 7 days | MCL 766.4(1) |
| Arraignment on the information | Bindover | Within 14 days | MCL 766.13; MCR 6.110(I) |
Changes over time
History stays right
Caps, rates, tiers, and retainer benchmarks carry the dates they apply. Raising a rate in July does not reprice March, and a report for last year uses last year's cap.
Shared where it helps
One catalog, local additions
The offense catalog and the standard court forms are shared by every unit and kept current in one place. A unit adds its own local ordinances and forms beside them without touching anyone else's.
Any system
Not tied to one state
Case levels, caps, deadlines, rates, hearing types, and outcomes are the parts that differ from one indigent defense system to the next. All of them are settings, so a new system starts from configuration.