Right to counsel

Kentucky , Legislation , Civil Contempt in Family Court

A Kentucky statute entitles any indigent person to representation who is “being detained by a law enforcement officer, on suspicion of having committed, or who is under formal charge of having committed, or is being detained under a conviction of, a serious crime,” see Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 31.110(1), where the definition of “serious crime” includes “[a]ny legal action which could result in the detainment of a defendant.”  See Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 31.100(8)(c).   In Lewis v. Lewis, the state supreme court interpreted these provisions to mean that “an indigent person who is facing incarceration for any amount of time is entitled to appointed counsel,” including in civil contempt proceedings.  875 S.W.2d 862, 863-64 (Ky. 1993).

This case and the relevant statutory provisions indicate that Kentucky’s right-to-counsel analysis is concerned solely with the litigant’s liberty interest, rather than the nominally “civil” or “criminal” nature of the proceedings.  This focus is consistent with the holding in Lassiter v. Department of Social Services that “[I]t is the defendant’s interest in personal freedom, and not simply the special Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments right to counsel in criminal cases, which triggers the right to appointed counsel ….” 452 U.S. 18, 25 (1981). But see Armstead v. Armstead, No. 2023-CA-0590-ME, No. 2023-CA-0894-MR, 2024WL 3075029 (Ky. Ct. App. June 21, 2024) (finding the circuit court abused its discretion by not considering mother’s request for counsel, because the civil contempt sanction imposed against her–a probated 7-day prison sentence–was criminal in nature).

Appointment of Counsel: Yes
Qualified: No
? If "yes", the established right to counsel or discretionary appointment of counsel is limited in some way, including any of: the only authority is a lower/intermediate court decision or a city council, not a high court or state legislature; there has been a subsequent case that has cast doubt; a statute is ambiguous; or the right or discretionary appointment is not for all types of individuals or proceedings within that category.