Survey of Public Defender Offices, 2007

Instruction for completing this questionnaire

1. The label at the bottom of this page contains the name of this public defender office. It also contains the name of the county or jurisdiction served by the office. If this office is not occupied by the designated public defender for this area please contact the survey director at the designated telephone number given below

2. If you would prefer to complete the questionnaire electronically, the label at the bottom of the page contains the URL of the online survey form and the login name for the office. Instructions for completing the survey electronically are provided when you log on to the website.

3. Please answer each question in sequence by circling the appropriate number or code and/or by printing the requested information in the space provided. In some cases you will be requested to skip certain questions based on your response. In instances in which the number you provide is an estimate, please mark the box “estimate.”

4. Use 2006 as the reference year and refer to the following page for definitions of terms used throughout the questionnaire.

5. Please mail the completed questionnaire within two weeks in the pre-addressed, pre-paid envelope provided or fax it to the attention of #### at #####. While you are not required to respond, your cooperation is appreciated to make the Census of Public Defender Offices comprehensive.

6. Public reporting burden for this collection is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate, or any other aspects of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the Director, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 810 Seventh Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20531.

7. The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 as amended (42 U.S.C. 3732), authorizes this information collection. The request for information is in accordance with the clearance requirement of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, as amended (42 U.S.C. 3507). Although this census is voluntary, we urgently need and appreciate your cooperation to make the results comprehensive, accurate and timely.

8. If you have any questions or need assistance in completing the questionnaire, please contact #####, Survey Director for this Bureau of Justice Statistics survey, at this toll-free number: 1-800- . Please note, an agency may not collect data, nor is a person required to respond to a collection request unless it displays a valid OMB control number.  The valid control number for this collection is: 1121-0095. 

DEFINITIONS

Please tear off this page and refer to the following definitions when completing this questionnaire

Public Defender Program: Under this system, a salaried staff of full-time or part-time attorneys render indigent defense services through a public or private non-profit organization.

Total Operating Expenditures: total office budget for indigent defense functions, excluding any fixed capital costs incurred during the year

Part-time: any employee who works fewer hours than the program’s standard work week.

Assistant public defender: any employee of the public defender program licensed to practice law or who has applied for admission to the bar, and who primarily litigates cases. Excludes attorneys in non-litigating positions.

Supervisory Attorneys: includes any attorneys in managerial positions who litigate cases.

Manager, Attorney: includes any attorneys in primarily managerial or supervisory positions who do not litigate cases.

Manager, non-Attorney: includes any non-attorneys in primarily managerial or supervisory positions.

Support staff: includes administrative staff, computer personnel, fiscal officers, training directors.

Case: refers to a defendant. A case with three defendants should be recorded as three cases but a case with one defendant with multiple charges should be counted as one case

Identity theft: fraudulent use of a credit card, obtaining existing account information such as a bank account, or using personal information such as a social security number without permission.