Indigent Defense

What's New | Conferences | Funding | T. A./Training
Fielded Programs | Research and Statistics | Links Outside OJP

Fielded Programs:
Tried & True to Innovative Pilots

Providing Effective Representation for Youth Prosecuted as Adults (2000) (Text or PDF). Describes successes in public defenders' attempts to provide high-quality representation to youth prosecuted in adult criminal courts using the experiences of defenders across the country to identify key elements of defender programs that effectively meet the needs of transferred children.

Public Defenders in the Neighborhood: A Harlem Law Office Stresses Teamwork, Early Investigation (1997) Text or PDF

Innovative Courts Programs: Results From State and Local Program Workshops.

Indigent Defense and Technology: A Progress Report (1999) (Text or PDF)

Contracting for Indigent Defense Services: A Special Report (2000) TEXT or PDF addresses the issues surrounding the provision of defense services to defendants who cannot afford counsel. It was written for individuals in the justice system who are using, considering, or implementing an indigent defense contract system. The report presents the major judicial and legislative attempts to deal with those systems, examines the best and worst features of contract systems, and discusses the national standards that govern contract systems.

Improving State and Local Criminal Justice Systems: A Report on How Public Defenders, Prosecutors, and Other Criminal Justice System Practitioners Are Collaborating Across the Country.

PDF or Text Versions

Overcoming Obstacles to Community Courts: A Summary of Workshop Proceedings in ASCII Text or PDF

Key Elements of Successful Adjudication Partnerships in ASCII Text or PDF

Workload Measurement for Juvenile Justice System Personnel: Practices and Needs
This is a Best Practices bulletin that describes current approaches to measuring workload for judges, court-appointed defenders, probation officers, and pretrial service staff, and discusses the need to develop a flexible, affordable template for workload measurement.

Innovative Approaches to Juvenile Indigent Defense (Also available in PDF)

A collection of a range of innovative projects with summaries and evaluations from Roxbury, MA, Washington State, New York, NY, Washington, DC, Cooks County, IL, and Maryland.