Survey of Public Defenders: A Design Study

The Survey of Public Defenders: A Design Study (SPDDS) is a new collection that will expand our knowledge of the field of indigent defense in the U.S. BJS has established a program of agency-level surveys, which measure the caseload, staffing, expenditures, standards, and oversight of indigent defense systems. The objective of the SPDDS is to design a survey instrument and sampling plan that will eventually systematically describe the experiences of attorneys providing services to those who qualify. The project team will develop the survey instrument and sampling plan with the assistance of an expert panel that has knowledge of and experience in the field of indigent defense. This survey will address the education and experience of attorneys, workload and use of support staff, client and case characteristics, and quality of legal representation provided, as well as any other needs identified by the expert panel. Additionally, there exists no complete listing of indigent defense attorneys. The project team and expert panel will work to develop a cost-effective and representative sampling strategy to generate nationally representative statistics. (CA/NCF)

Note: This project contains a research and/or development component, as defined in applicable law.