In November 2000, the Bureau of Justice Statistics of the U.S. Department of Justice released the results of its 1999 National Survey of Indigent Defense Systems. Called Indigent Defense Services in Large Counties, this survey captured information concerning the cost of court-appointed legal representation for indigent criminal defendants in the 100 most populous counties in the country.

The results of the survey show that an estimated $1.2 billion was spent to provide legal representation for the indigent in 4.2 million felony trials. About 80 percent of these were criminal cases that included felony capital or death penalty cases and felony noncapital cases.

A snapshot of the top 100 counties reveals that:

• 42 percent of the country’s population lives in these counties
• 44 percent of the 36 million who live below the poverty level live in these counties
• 55 percent of the arrests for violent crimes occurred in these counties (1997 data).

In 1999, local criminal justice expenditures for the country were estimated at $65 billion. Fifty-eight percent of the total expenditures occurred in the largest 100 counties. These estimates reveal that the largest 100 counties spent $23 billion on police, $7.5 billion on judicial activities and $7 billion on corrections for a total expenditure by these counties of more than $37 billion.

In 1963, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Gideon v. Wainwright that all indigent people facing felony charges must be provided legal counsel. Later, in Argersinger v. Hamlin, the court extended this right to counsel to all criminal prosecutions that carry a potential prison sentence. The court did not specify how such services were to be delivered, so states and local governments have devised three major ways of organizing and funding these indigent defense services.

Public Defender — Some governments use a salaried staff of full-time or part-time attorneys who provide indigent defense through a public or private nonprofit organization or as direct government employees.

Assigned Counsel — Some governments appoint counsel from a list of private bar members who accept cases on a case-by-case basis.

Contract — Individual attorneys, bar associations, law firms, groups of attorneys or nonprofit organizations contract with a funding source to provide court-appointed representation.

Ninety-five of the top 100 counties offer more than one type of indigent criminal defense service. All but eight of these 100 counties operate a public defender program. Assigned counsel programs are also available in 89 counties, and contract programs are available in 42.

At least 50 counties report spending nearly $7 million or more on the operation of these programs. The county government funded the entire cost of the indigent defense services in 24 counties, and 25 counties report funding 75 percent of the total cost.

In eight counties, 100 percent of the funding was from the state government, and 23 other counties received 75 percent of the funding from the state. The District of Columbia funded its entire indigent defense services program through funds received from the federal government.

The average number of cases handled by the 100 largest counties was more than 43,000 in 1999. Of these, approximately 81 percent were indigent criminal cases, with indigent juvenile, civil and other types of indigent cases accounting for the remainder.

For additional information on indigent defense programs or for a copy of the report go to http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/idslc99.htm or contact the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 810 7th St., NW, Washington, DC 20531, (202) 307-0765.

(Research News was written by Jacqueline Byers, NACo director of research.)