H.R. 5551: To amend title 11, District of Columbia Official Code, to implement the increase provided under the District of Columbia Appropriations Act, 2008, in the amount of funds made available for the compensation of attorneys representing indigent defendants in the District of Columbia courts, and for other purposes.

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H.R. 5551: To amend title 11, District of Columbia Official Code, to implement the increase provided under the District of Columbia Appropriations Act, 2008, in the amount of funds made available for the compensation of attorneys representing indigent defendants in the District of Columbia courts, and for other purposes.

110th Congress · introduced 2008-03-06 · Government Operations and Politics · Latest: Became Public Law No: 110-335.

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Official title

To amend title 11, District of Columbia Official Code, to implement the increase provided under the District of Columbia Appropriations Act, 2008, in the amount of funds made available for the compensation of attorneys representing indigent defendants in the District of Columbia courts, and for other purposes.

Plain summary

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.) Amends the District of Columbia Official Code to increase from $65 to $80 the hourly rate of attorneys representing indigent defendants in the District of Columbia courts. Revises the current cap on total compensation paid to an attorney representing such a defendant to apply the corresponding caps under the federal criminal code. Increases the cap: (1) before the Superior Court of the District from $1,900 to $2,000 for misdemeanors and from $3,600 to $7,000 for felonies; and (2) to the same amounts for post-trial matters for misdemeanors or felonies. Sets the cap for representation of a defendant before the District of Columbia Court of Appeals at $5,000, the limitation under the federal criminal code for representation of a defendant in an appellate court.

Congressional Research Service summary (Public Law), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

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PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

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Alternatives

Needs sources: no published alternatives yet (for example a different bill, a law instead of an amendment, or keeping current law). We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.

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Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Davis, Danny K. [D-IL-7] · 1 cosponsors

Cost estimate: CBO cost estimate: H.R. 5551, A bill to amend title 11, District of Columbia Official Code, to implement the increase provided under the District of Columbia Appropriations Act, 2008, in the amount of funds made available for the compensation of attorneys represent (2008-03-24); CBO cost estimate: H.R. 5551, A bill to amend title 11, District of Columbia Official Code, to implement the increase provided under the District of Columbia Appropriations Act, 2008, in the amount of funds made available for the compensation of attorneys represent (2008-03-24); CBO cost estimate: H.R. 5551, An act to amend title 11, District of Columbia Official Code, to implement the increase provided under the District of Columbia Appropriations Act, 2008, in the amount of funds made available for the compensation (2008-04-14); CBO cost estimate: H.R. 5551, An act to amend title 11, District of Columbia Official Code, to implement the increase provided under the District of Columbia Appropriations Act, 2008, in the amount of funds made available for the compensation (2008-04-14)

Cosponsors on this site

Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)

Sponsor's campaign money: Rep. Davis, Danny K. [D-IL-7] reported raising $100,598 (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

Agencies named in this bill

• District of Columbia Courts: its federal spending and other bills that name it

Found automatically: the agency's full official name appears in the bill title. A bill can affect agencies it does not name, so this list may be incomplete.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Sources

• Congressional Research Service summary (Public Law)
• Congress.gov
• Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-110hr5551.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/110/hr>

Record fed-us-cong110-hr5551 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong110 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong110