A.  In any prisoner suit in which attorney fees are authorized, such fees shall not be awarded, except to the extent that the fee was directly and reasonably incurred in proving an actual violation of the plaintiff‘s rights protected by a statute pursuant to which a fee may be awarded, and the amount of the fee is proportionately related to the court-ordered relief for the violation or the fee was directly and reasonably incurred in enforcing the relief ordered for the violation.

B.  Whenever a monetary judgment is awarded in an action described in Subsection A, a portion of the judgment, not to exceed twenty-five percent, shall be applied to satisfy the amount of attorney fees awarded against the defendant.  If the award of attorney fees is not greater than one hundred fifty percent of the judgment, the excess shall be paid by the defendant.  No award of attorney fees in an action shall be based on an hourly rate greater than the hourly rate established for payment of court-appointed counsel.

C.  Nothing in this Section shall prohibit a prisoner from entering into an agreement to pay an attorney fee in an amount greater than the amount authorized under this Section, if the fee is paid by the individual rather than by the defendant.

Acts 1997, No. 731, §1, eff. July 9, 1997; Acts 1998, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 110, §1, eff. May 5, 1998.