Discretionary appointment of counsel
While a state may have many statutes, court decisions, or court rules governing
appointment of counsel for a particular subject area, a "Key Development" is a
statute/decision/rule that prevails over the others (example: a state high court
decision finding a categorical right to counsel in guardianships cases takes
precedence over a statute saying appointment in guardianship cases is
discretionary).
Litigation, All Basic Human Needs
In Virgin v. A.L. Lockhart, 702 S.W.2d 9 (Ark. 1986) (per curiam), the court held that pursuant to its inherent power, courts can appoint counsel "in those cases where the appellant is able to make a substantial showing that he is entitled to relief and that he cannot proceed without counsel". Most commonly, these cases where the court provides counsel are instances where the litigant is currently incarcerated.
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.
discretionary
no
