By Alabama Public Radio
Montgomery, AL – The ruling counters Attorney General Troy King's February first opinion that Alabama law does not call for such compensation. Judge Truman Hobbs Junior's ruling says state Comptroller Robert Childree must immediately resume payments for overhead expenses -- such as insurance, office supplies and bar dues -- which amounts to about 14 million dollars of the overall 45 million spent on indigent defense annually. Overhead compensation makes up about a third of what the attorneys get to represent indigent clients.