Survey of Public Defenders: A Design Study (SPDDS)

The Survey of Public Defenders: A Design Study (SPDDS) will continue the ongoing efforts of BJS to systematically describe the provision of legal services to the indigent and will extend the foundational work of the Census of Public Defenders Offices (CPDO 2007) and National Survey of Indigent Defense Providers (NSIDS 2013) to enhance our understanding of the work done by public defenders. While the CPDO and NSIDS were agency level surveys, the proposed new data collection effort will survey the public defenders who provide services to adults and juveniles charged with a criminal offense. The project will produce (1) a report documenting the information needs of the field that could be served by a survey of public defenders; (2) a report proposing a sampling plan to yield nationally-representative statistics; and (3) a pilot survey instrument which seeks information on a range of topics (e.g., provider demographics, professional background, caseloads, case outcomes, support services, needs, and emerging issues).