A key state Senate committee on Thursday approved legislation that defense attorneys say would increase jail costs and deprive poor people charged with crime speedy access to a lawyer.

The Senate Judiciary Committee added the provision to HB 1245, which is legislation to overhaul the state's indigent defense system.

A hallmark of legislation that established a new statewide public defender system in 2005 was increased oversight, to make sure defendants were provided lawyers within 72 hours of arrest. In the years leading up to the new system, defendants in some county jails languished for weeks or months before seeing a lawyer.

Data from the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council showed that public defenders met the 72-hour requirement 95 percent of the time last year.

Legislation approved in committee Thursday calls for an indigent defendant to have access to a lawyer within five business days, if the defendant requests a public defender.

Sen. John Wiles (R-Kennesaw), who proposed the five-day provision, said he wants to ensure defendants are indeed indigent before getting a public defender. The Cobb County court system uses an inexpensive verification system that is "an incredibly good way to save money," Wiles said.

Wiles also said he understood that public defenders often arrive at the jail and say, "Hey, we're here to represent you."

But David Dunn, public defender for the Lookout Mountain circuit, said most defenders are too busy to fish for clients.

Allowing defendants quick access to an attorney is more cost efficient, Dunn said. With the help of a lawyer, a defendant charged with a non-violent or petty offense can get a bond, reducing jail costs. The longer a person who has a job stays in jail, the more likely that person will lose the job and become indigent, he said.

"If we do this ..., it's not going to be a cost savings; it's going to be a cost increase," Dunn said.

Atlanta lawyer Sandra Michaels of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers said that many people who are arrested suffer from mental illness or have substance-abuse problems and might not be able to make an informed decision to ask for a public defender.

Sen. Seth Harp's (R-Midland) amendment to strike the new rule failed.

Stephen Bright, a lawyer with the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta, said the new mandate would have unintended consequences. "Instead of saving money, it's going to cost the counties more ... by keeping people in jail who don't need to be there — either because they're innocent or entitled to a bond," Bright said.

Other parts of the legislation create cost-sharing, requiring counties to pay more of the defense costs in some capital cases. It also would prohibit senior judges from presiding over death-penalty cases and raise the number of county commissioners on the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council board.