§ 24.8 Rights of Indigent Petitioner

• Jurisdiction: Washington

§24.8 RIGHTS OF INDIGENT PETITIONER

This section discusses when indigent personal restraint petitioners can obtain fee waivers, and when counsel may be appointed and other costs waived.

(1) Waiver of filing fee

A personal restraint petition will be filed without payment of the filing fee if "the appellate court determines that the petitioner is indigent." RAP 16.8(a). This is determined from the sworn petition, which must include a statement of finances if a request for waiver of filing fee is made. RAP 16.7(a)(3), (5). See §24.7(1) (form of the petition). When petitions for indigents are in proper form, the court will allow filing without payment of fees. When a state grants a right to collateral review, the state may not deny that right to an indigent petitioner simply because of inability to pay the required filing fee. Smith v. Bennett, 365 U.S. 708, 81 S. Ct. 895, 6 L. Ed. 2d 39 (1961).

(2) Right to counsel, record, and waiver of charges in appellate court

The United States Supreme Court has held that neither the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment nor the equal protection guarantee of "meaningful access" requires that the state appoint counsel for indigent prisoners seeking state post-conviction relief. Pennsylvania v. Finley, 481 U.S. 551, 556-57, 107 S. Ct. 1990, 95 L. Ed. 2d 539 (1987). This is true in capital as well as noncapital cases. Murray v. Giarratano, 492...