Whenever it is necessary for a district court to appoint an attorney at law to represent any inmate who is charged with a crime alleged to have been committed while the inmate was in the actual physical custody and control of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections or when an inmate escapes from the actual physical custody and control of the department and during the period of escape is charged with committing a crime in the parish where the correctional institution from which he escaped is located, such attorney at law shall be paid a reasonable fee, fixed by the court, from funds appropriated to the department.  

Acts 1956, No. 80, §1.  Amended by Acts 1977, No. 320, §1, eff. July 13, 1977; Acts 1982, No. 620, §1; Acts 1990, No. 231, §1.