Council on Public Defense Standards Committee Survey

The Council on Public Defense Standards Committee is considering proposing an emergency order to help defenders and assigned counsel respond effectively to growing workloads. The Committee has requested that public defense counsel respond to as many of these survey questions as possible, to guide the Committee in developing a proposal.

We are asking for information that will help demonstrate the effect of Covid on the backlog of open cases and identify resources needed to provide effective representation to clients.

The caseload information requested below is for Adult Felony and Misdemeanor cases. If your case management system doesn’t allow you easily to gather this information, please indicate that, give your best estimate, and tell us what resources you would need to provide the information.

This is a follow-up to the WDA, OPD and WACDL survey and report “Defending Clients in the COVID-19 Environment: Survey Results from Private and Public Defense Counsel” which found:

"The increasing backlog of pending cases reduces defenders' ability to provide effective representation to all clients. Cases now take longer to resolve, particularly violent offenses. Attorneys require more time to work with clients and investigate facts, and the limited availability of community resources creates further delays (e.g., treatment, licensing, family support services."

Click here to view the report.

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* 1. Survey Respondent

Office director

Office attorney

Contract administrator

Individual contract attorney

Other (please specify)

January-March 31, 2020

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* 2. From January-March 31, 2020, how many cases were assigned to your office?

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* 3. If you are an individual contractor, how many cases were you appointed Jan-March 2020?

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* 4. For felonies, how many of the cases were:

Homicides

Persistent Offender

Class A

Class B

Class C

PV or Sentence Review

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* 5. How many Adult Misdemeanor cases were assigned?

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* 6. Of the total cases and as of March 31, 2021, how many cases were unresolved (no verdict or plea or dismissal)?

April 1, 2020-June 30,2020

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* 7. From April 1, 2020-June 30,2020, how many cases were assigned to your office?

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* 8. If you are an individual contractor, how many cases were appointed April-June 30, 2020?

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* 9. For felonies, how many of the cases were:

Homicides

Persistent Offender

Class A

Class B

Class C

PV or Sentence Review

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* 10. How many Adult Misdemeanors cases were you assigned?

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* 11. Of the total cases and as of March 31, 2021, how many cases were unresolved (no verdict or plea or dismissal)?

July 1, 2020-September 30, 2020

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* 12. From July 1, 2020-September 30, 2020, how many cases were assigned to your office?

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* 13. If you are an individual contractor, how many cases were you appointed July-Sept 2020?

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* 14. For felonies, how many of the cases were:

Homicides

Persistent Offender

Class A

Class B

Class C

PV or Sentence Review

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* 15. How many Adult Misdemeanors cases were assigned?

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* 16. Of the total cases and as of March 31, 2021, how many cases were unresolved (no verdict or plea or dismissal)?

October 1, 2020-December 31, 2020

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* 17. From October 1, 2020-December 31, 2020, how many cases were assigned to your office?

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* 18. If you are an individual contractor, how many cases were you appointed Oct-Dec 2020?

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* 19. For felonies, how many of the cases were:

Homicides

Persistent Offender

Class A

Class B

Class C

PV or Sentence Review

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* 20. How many Adult Misdemeanors cases were assigned?

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* 21. Of the total cases and as of March 31, 2021, how many cases were unresolved (no verdict or plea)?

January 1, 2021-March 31, 2021

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* 22. From January 1, 2021-March 31, 2021, how many cases, excluding Blake resentencings, were assigned to your office?

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* 23. If you are an individual contractor, how many cases were you appointed Jan-March 2021?

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* 24. For felonies, how many of the cases were:

Homicides

Persistent Offender

Class A

Class B sex offense or violent offense

Class C

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* 25. How many Adult Misdemeanors cases were assigned?

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* 26. Of the total cases, how many were unresolved (no verdict or plea) as of March 31, 2021?

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* 27. How many open cases as of March 31, 2021, excluding Blake resentencings, are each of your attorneys in your office responsible for?

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* 28. How does that compare to the number of open cases per attorney on March 31, 2019?

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* 29. Does the current caseload mix include more serious, less serious, or about the same mix of offenses as in 2019?

More serious

Less serious

About the same

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* 30. If there is a backlog of filed but unresolved cases in your jurisdiction, which of the following contribute to the backlog?

No jury trials

Prosecutor unwilling/unavailable to negotiate without deadline of jury trial

Limited ability to meet with clients because office is closed

Prosecutor “cleared the decks” and filed old cases

Other (please specify)

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* 31. Has the Prosecuting Attorney/City Attorney in your jurisdiction limited filing cases during Covid?

Yes

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* 32. If yes, has the Prosecutor/City Attorney in your jurisdiction advised you/the Court whether or not there is a backlog of cases that he/she will file at some point?

Yes

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* 33. If so, has the Prosecutor/City Attorney estimated the number of to-be-filed cases?

Yes

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* 34. If yes, what is the estimated number of to-be-filed cases?

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* 35. Is the Court in your jurisdiction considering steps to address the criminal case backlog?

Yes

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* 36. How is the court considering handling the criminal case backlog?

hiring pro tems for expanded trial/motion/plea calendars

suspending civil trials until criminal backlog is reduced

Other (please specify)

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* 37. How many Blake re-sentencing cases have been assigned to your office?

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* 38. How many Blake re-sentencing cases do you anticipate your office will be assigned?

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* 39. What resources will you need to assess resentencing cases, including LFOs, and to represent clients at resentencing?

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* 40. What are your current attorney/staff resources?

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* 41. What resources do you need to appropriately represent clients and reduce backlog? Please include attorneys/support staff/computers/office space/admin staff, etc.

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* 42. Does your office have sufficient attorneys who are qualified under the Supreme Court Standards for Indigent Defense to represent clients charged with more serious offenses?

Yes

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* 43. Are the Court/Prosecutor or City Attorney/and your office or other public defense administrator or representative working together on these issues?

Yes

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* 44. If you have other comments about types of cases not addressed above, please provide them here:

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* 45. In what City and/or County do you primarily practice?

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* 46. If you have other comments or recommendations, please provide them here:

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* 47. Please provide your name and contact information if you would be willing to provide further information.

Name

Email Address

Phone Number