In 2007, the Bureau of Justice Statistics conducted a nationwide study of public defender offices to obtain information on the operations, staffing, caseloads, and funding of the approximately 1,200 offices that serve as public defender offices across the Nation. The data provide the indigent defense community with a benchmark for comparative analysis with other criminal justice service providers and will help increase understanding of workload strain, the level of resources devoted to indigent defense, and the expanding responsibilities of public defenders.

NORC's Role in the Study

NORC developed a comprehensive roster of all public defender offices across the country and conducted the 2007 CPDO using a multi-mode data collection approach: a mail survey with an option to complete via the web or by telephone.  Non-responders were prompted through a series of mail/e-mail/fax contacts and follow-up calls to exceed the target response rate goal of 95%.  NORC also retrieved data for missing and inconsistent items to achieve the targeted survey item response rates which ranged from 90% to 99%, depending on the item.

Study Findings

The Bureau of Justice Statistics released a report from the Census of Public Defender Offices (CPDO), which examines offices that provide representation for indigent defendants through a salaried staff of full-time or part-time attorneys who are employed as direct government employees or through a public, nonprofit organization. 

Highlights from the report for 2007 include:

• 964 public defender offices across the nation received nearly 6 million indigent defense cases.
• Half of all state-based public defender offices had formal caseload limits in place.
• Misdemeanor cases accounted for about 40% of all cases received by state-based public defender offices and about 50% of the cases received by county-based offices.

2007 Study Report

"Public Defender Offices, 2007 - Statistical Tables"