Census of Public Defender Offices

There is a glaring need for credible, national data on public defense in the United States. The Bureau of Justice Statistics 2007 Census of Public Defender Offices (CPDO) is the most comprehensive data collection on public defender offices conducted to date. Findings from the survey continue to be regularly referenced despite being fifteen years old, and efforts at reform in some states have been stalled for years for lack of reliable data about the work of public defenders. Thus, NORC at the University of Chicago, the Urban Institute, the National Association for Public Defense, and Dr. Andy Davies are excited to work in partnership with BJS and a panel of public defense experts to develop and administer the second Census of Public Defender Offices to provide updated national statistics about public defender offices and their structures, staffing, expenditures, standards and guidelines, caseloads, and attorney training opportunities, amongst other things. Through this important effort we will 1) develop and test a CPDO questionnaire, 2) update the 2007 CPDO frame, 3) administer the CPDO survey, and 4) clean, analyze, and deliver raw and final datasets, and a final report to BJS.