Discretionary appointment of counsel

Kentucky's in forma pauperis ("IFP") statute, Section 453.190(1), provides that "[a] court shall allow a poor person residing in this state to file or defend any action or appeal therein without paying costs, whereupon he shall have any counsel that the court assigns him . . . ."  Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 453.190(1). The Kentucky Court of Appeals (which at the time was the state high court) held that the IFP statute applies to civil cases as well as to criminal cases. Wilson v. Melcroft Coal Co., 11 S.W.2d 932, 933 (Ky. 1928).

However, there is some doubt that the IFP statute can still be used for appointment of counsel, given its lack of a compensation provision and given related precedent from Kentucky’s high court. See Bradshaw v. Ball, 487 S.W.2d 294, 299 (Ky. 1972) (finding that uncompensated appointments are unconstitutional); Marjorie Herbert, Kentucky’s In Forma Pauperis Statute:  Indifferent Justice or Merely Different Justice?, 5 N. Ky. L. Rev. 169, 176 (1978) (“[The Bradshaw v. Ball] decision implies that the provision of the in forma pauperis statute for assigned counsel when applied to civil suits is a dead letter.”).