| 1 | 1 | | II |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 1102 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To incentivize States and localities to improve access to justice, and for |
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| 6 | 6 | | other purposes. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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| 8 | 8 | | MARCH25, 2025 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Mr. B |
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| 10 | 10 | | OOKER(for himself, Mr. DURBIN, and Mr. WELCH) introduced the fol- |
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| 11 | 11 | | lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the |
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| 12 | 12 | | Judiciary |
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| 13 | 13 | | A BILL |
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| 14 | 14 | | To incentivize States and localities to improve access to |
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| 15 | 15 | | justice, and for other purposes. |
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| 16 | 16 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 17 | 17 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 18 | 18 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 19 | 19 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Providing a Quality 4 |
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| 20 | 20 | | Defense Act of 2025’’ or the ‘‘Quality Defense Act of 5 |
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| 21 | 21 | | 2025’’. 6 |
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| 22 | 22 | | SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 7 |
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| 23 | 23 | | The purposes of this Act are— 8 |
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| 24 | 24 | | (1) to protect the constitutional rights to due 9 |
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| 25 | 25 | | process and a fair criminal prosecution under the 10 |
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| 28 | 28 | | •S 1102 IS |
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| 29 | 29 | | Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the 1 |
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| 30 | 30 | | Constitution of the United States, including the 2 |
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| 31 | 31 | | right to counsel, in State and local courts, as articu-3 |
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| 32 | 32 | | lated by the Supreme Court of the United States in 4 |
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| 33 | 33 | | Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963), and its 5 |
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| 34 | 34 | | progeny; 6 |
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| 35 | 35 | | (2) to protect the right to counsel for juveniles 7 |
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| 36 | 36 | | in delinquency proceedings, including the determina-8 |
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| 37 | 37 | | tion of whether a juvenile should be tried as an 9 |
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| 38 | 38 | | adult, under the Due Process Clause of the Four-10 |
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| 39 | 39 | | teenth Amendment as articulated by the Supreme 11 |
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| 40 | 40 | | Court in In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1 (1967); 12 |
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| 41 | 41 | | (3) to collect data related to public defense in 13 |
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| 42 | 42 | | order to facilitate evidence-based reforms and im-14 |
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| 43 | 43 | | provements; and 15 |
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| 44 | 44 | | (4) to ensure that compensation for public de-16 |
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| 45 | 45 | | fenders and panel attorneys reflects the constitu-17 |
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| 46 | 46 | | tional guarantee of the right to counsel and does not 18 |
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| 47 | 47 | | disincentivize attorneys from pursuing a career in 19 |
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| 48 | 48 | | public defense. 20 |
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| 49 | 49 | | SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 21 |
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| 50 | 50 | | In this Act, except as otherwise provided in section 22 |
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| 51 | 51 | | 7: 23 |
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| 54 | 54 | | •S 1102 IS |
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| 55 | 55 | | (1) APPLICABLE PUBLIC DEFENDER ’SOF-1 |
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| 56 | 56 | | FICE.—The term ‘‘applicable public defender’s of-2 |
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| 57 | 57 | | fice’’, with respect to an eligible entity that is— 3 |
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| 58 | 58 | | (A) a public defender’s office, means the 4 |
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| 59 | 59 | | eligible entity; 5 |
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| 60 | 60 | | (B) a State or unit of local government, 6 |
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| 61 | 61 | | means— 7 |
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| 62 | 62 | | (i) the public defender’s office of the 8 |
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| 63 | 63 | | eligible entity; and 9 |
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| 64 | 64 | | (ii) a public defender’s office of a unit 10 |
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| 65 | 65 | | of local government within the eligible enti-11 |
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| 66 | 66 | | ty; and 12 |
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| 67 | 67 | | (C) a Tribal organization, means the pub-13 |
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| 68 | 68 | | lic defender’s office of the Tribal organization. 14 |
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| 69 | 69 | | (2) A |
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| 70 | 70 | | SSIGNED COUNSEL PROGRAM .—The term 15 |
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| 71 | 71 | | ‘‘assigned counsel program’’ means a program or 16 |
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| 72 | 72 | | procedure by which a court assigns a panel attorney 17 |
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| 73 | 73 | | to provide quality legal representation to a client. 18 |
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| 74 | 74 | | (3) C |
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| 75 | 75 | | ASE.—The term ‘‘case’’ includes all 19 |
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| 76 | 76 | | charges against an individual involved in a single in-20 |
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| 77 | 77 | | cident of alleged criminal or delinquent conduct. 21 |
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| 78 | 78 | | (4) C |
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| 79 | 79 | | ASE TYPE.— 22 |
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| 80 | 80 | | (A) I |
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| 81 | 81 | | N GENERAL.—The term ‘‘case type’’ 23 |
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| 82 | 82 | | means the classification of a client’s case into 24 |
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| 85 | 85 | | •S 1102 IS |
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| 86 | 86 | | 1 of the following categories, as defined under 1 |
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| 87 | 87 | | State or local law: 2 |
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| 88 | 88 | | (i) Juvenile. 3 |
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| 89 | 89 | | (ii) Misdemeanor. 4 |
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| 90 | 90 | | (iii) Felony for which the death pen-5 |
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| 91 | 91 | | alty may be imposed. 6 |
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| 92 | 92 | | (iv) Felony for which a sentence of up 7 |
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| 93 | 93 | | to life imprisonment may be imposed. 8 |
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| 94 | 94 | | (v) Felony not described in clause (iii) 9 |
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| 95 | 95 | | or (iv). 10 |
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| 96 | 96 | | (vi) Violation of probation or parole. 11 |
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| 97 | 97 | | (vii) School proceeding. 12 |
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| 98 | 98 | | (viii) Other. 13 |
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| 99 | 99 | | (B) M |
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| 100 | 100 | | ULTIPLE CHARGES.—If a case in-14 |
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| 101 | 101 | | volves multiple charges, the case type shall be 15 |
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| 102 | 102 | | determined according to the most serious 16 |
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| 103 | 103 | | charge under the applicable State or local law. 17 |
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| 104 | 104 | | (5) C |
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| 105 | 105 | | ORRESPONDING PROSECUTOR ’S OFFICE.— 18 |
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| 106 | 106 | | The term ‘‘corresponding prosecutor’s office’’, with 19 |
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| 107 | 107 | | respect to a public defender’s office or panel attor-20 |
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| 108 | 108 | | neys, means a prosecutorial unit that appears ad-21 |
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| 109 | 109 | | verse to the public defender’s office or panel attor-22 |
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| 110 | 110 | | neys in criminal proceedings. 23 |
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| 111 | 111 | | (6) D |
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| 112 | 112 | | ATA GRANT.—The term ‘‘data grant’’ 24 |
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| 113 | 113 | | means a grant awarded under section 4(a)(1). 25 |
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| 116 | 116 | | •S 1102 IS |
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| 117 | 117 | | (7) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti-1 |
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| 118 | 118 | | ty’’ means a State, unit of local government, Tribal 2 |
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| 119 | 119 | | organization, public defender’s office, or assigned 3 |
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| 120 | 120 | | counsel program that— 4 |
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| 121 | 121 | | (A) in the case of an application for a data 5 |
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| 122 | 122 | | grant, has not, as of the date of application, de-6 |
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| 123 | 123 | | veloped and implemented a data collection proc-7 |
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| 124 | 124 | | ess that meets the requirements under section 8 |
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| 125 | 125 | | 4(b)(2); and 9 |
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| 126 | 126 | | (B) in the case of an application for a hir-10 |
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| 127 | 127 | | ing grant, as of the date of the application, 11 |
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| 128 | 128 | | has— 12 |
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| 129 | 129 | | (i) received a data grant; and 13 |
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| 130 | 130 | | (ii) fulfilled the requirements of the 14 |
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| 131 | 131 | | data grant. 15 |
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| 132 | 132 | | (8) H |
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| 133 | 133 | | IRING GRANT.—The term ‘‘hiring grant’’ 16 |
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| 134 | 134 | | means a grant awarded under section 4(a)(2). 17 |
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| 135 | 135 | | (9) M |
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| 136 | 136 | | OST SERIOUS CHARGE .—The term ‘‘most 18 |
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| 137 | 137 | | serious charge’’, with respect to a case that involves 19 |
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| 138 | 138 | | multiple charges, means the charge that carries the 20 |
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| 139 | 139 | | most severe or lengthy maximum penalty. 21 |
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| 140 | 140 | | (10) P |
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| 141 | 141 | | ANEL ATTORNEY.—The term ‘‘panel at-22 |
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| 142 | 142 | | torney’’ means a private attorney assigned by the 23 |
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| 143 | 143 | | court who serves the same function as a public de-24 |
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| 146 | 146 | | •S 1102 IS |
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| 147 | 147 | | fender, without regard to whether the role is full- 1 |
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| 148 | 148 | | time or part-time. 2 |
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| 149 | 149 | | (11) P |
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| 150 | 150 | | ROSECUTOR.—The term ‘‘prosecutor’’— 3 |
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| 151 | 151 | | (A) has the meaning given the term in sec-4 |
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| 152 | 152 | | tion 3001(b) of title I of the Omnibus Crime 5 |
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| 153 | 153 | | Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 6 |
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| 154 | 154 | | U.S.C. 10671(b)); and 7 |
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| 155 | 155 | | (B) includes a full-time employee of a 8 |
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| 156 | 156 | | Tribal organization who— 9 |
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| 157 | 157 | | (i) is continually licensed to practice 10 |
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| 158 | 158 | | law; and 11 |
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| 159 | 159 | | (ii) carries out activities equivalent to 12 |
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| 160 | 160 | | those of a prosecutor referred to in sub-13 |
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| 161 | 161 | | paragraph (A). 14 |
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| 162 | 162 | | (12) P |
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| 163 | 163 | | UBLIC DEFENDER .—The term ‘‘public 15 |
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| 164 | 164 | | defender’’— 16 |
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| 165 | 165 | | (A) has the meaning given the term in sec-17 |
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| 166 | 166 | | tion 3001(b) of title I of the Omnibus Crime 18 |
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| 167 | 167 | | Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 19 |
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| 168 | 168 | | U.S.C. 10671(b)); and 20 |
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| 169 | 169 | | (B) includes an attorney employed by a 21 |
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| 170 | 170 | | Tribal organization who— 22 |
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| 171 | 171 | | (i) is continually licensed to practice 23 |
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| 172 | 172 | | law; and 24 |
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| 175 | 175 | | •S 1102 IS |
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| 176 | 176 | | (ii) carries out activities equivalent to 1 |
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| 177 | 177 | | those of a public defender referred to in 2 |
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| 178 | 178 | | subparagraph (A). 3 |
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| 179 | 179 | | (13) P |
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| 180 | 180 | | ROSECUTOR’S OFFICE; PUBLIC DE-4 |
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| 181 | 181 | | FENDER’S OFFICE.—The terms ‘‘prosecutor’s office’’ 5 |
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| 182 | 182 | | and ‘‘public defender’s office’’ mean an agency or of-6 |
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| 183 | 183 | | fice of a State, unit of local government, or Tribal 7 |
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| 184 | 184 | | organization that employs prosecutors or public de-8 |
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| 185 | 185 | | fenders, respectively. 9 |
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| 186 | 186 | | (14) R |
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| 187 | 187 | | ESOLUTION.—The term ‘‘resolution’’, 10 |
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| 188 | 188 | | with respect to a case, means the manner in which 11 |
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| 189 | 189 | | the case concludes, including by— 12 |
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| 190 | 190 | | (A) dismissal by the prosecutor; 13 |
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| 191 | 191 | | (B) dismissal based on a motion, such as 14 |
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| 192 | 192 | | a motion to suppress evidence; 15 |
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| 193 | 193 | | (C) a plea agreement at first appearance; 16 |
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| 194 | 194 | | (D) a plea agreement entered into at any 17 |
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| 195 | 195 | | point in the criminal prosecution other than 18 |
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| 196 | 196 | | first appearance; 19 |
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| 197 | 197 | | (E) diversion; or 20 |
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| 198 | 198 | | (F) a bench or jury trial and the outcome 21 |
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| 199 | 199 | | of the trial, including the sentence if the de-22 |
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| 200 | 200 | | fendant is convicted of any offense charged. 23 |
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| 201 | 201 | | (15) S |
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| 202 | 202 | | ECONDARY CHARGE .—The term ‘‘sec-24 |
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| 203 | 203 | | ondary charge’’, with respect to a case that involves 25 |
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| 206 | 206 | | •S 1102 IS |
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| 207 | 207 | | multiple charges, means any charge that is not the 1 |
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| 208 | 208 | | most serious charge. 2 |
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| 209 | 209 | | (16) S |
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| 210 | 210 | | TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean-3 |
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| 211 | 211 | | ing given the term in section 901 of title I of the 4 |
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| 212 | 212 | | Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 5 |
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| 213 | 213 | | 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10251). 6 |
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| 214 | 214 | | (17) T |
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| 215 | 215 | | RIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘Trib-7 |
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| 216 | 216 | | al organization’’ has the meaning given the term 8 |
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| 217 | 217 | | ‘‘tribal organization’’ in section 4(l) of the Indian 9 |
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| 218 | 218 | | Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act 10 |
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| 219 | 219 | | (25 U.S.C. 5304(l)). 11 |
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| 220 | 220 | | (18) U |
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| 221 | 221 | | NIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT .—The term 12 |
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| 222 | 222 | | ‘‘unit of local government’’ has the meaning given 13 |
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| 223 | 223 | | the term in section 901 of title I of the Omnibus 14 |
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| 224 | 224 | | Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 15 |
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| 225 | 225 | | U.S.C. 10251). 16 |
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| 226 | 226 | | SEC. 4. PUBLIC DEFENSE GRANT PROGRAM. 17 |
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| 227 | 227 | | (a) G |
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| 228 | 228 | | RANTAUTHORITY.—The Attorney General may 18 |
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| 229 | 229 | | award a grant to an eligible entity to— 19 |
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| 230 | 230 | | (1) develop, implement, and update a data col-20 |
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| 231 | 231 | | lection process under subsection (b)(2); or 21 |
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| 232 | 232 | | (2) hire additional public defense attorneys or 22 |
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| 233 | 233 | | carry out related activities under subsection (c)(3). 23 |
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| 234 | 234 | | (b) D |
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| 235 | 235 | | ATAGRANTS.— 24 |
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| 238 | 238 | | •S 1102 IS |
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| 239 | 239 | | (1) TERM.—The term of a data grant shall be 1 |
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| 240 | 240 | | 3 fiscal years. 2 |
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| 241 | 241 | | (2) R |
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| 242 | 242 | | EQUIRED DATA COLLECTION .—An eligible 3 |
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| 243 | 243 | | entity that receives a data grant shall develop and 4 |
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| 244 | 244 | | implement a process for collecting the following data 5 |
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| 245 | 245 | | for attorneys employed by each applicable public de-6 |
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| 246 | 246 | | fender’s office, and for panel attorneys within the ju-7 |
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| 247 | 247 | | risdiction of the eligible entity, during each fiscal 8 |
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| 248 | 248 | | year of the grant period: 9 |
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| 249 | 249 | | (A) The mean number of hours per month 10 |
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| 250 | 250 | | worked per attorney. 11 |
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| 251 | 251 | | (B) The mean number of hours spent per 12 |
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| 252 | 252 | | month by an attorney on— 13 |
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| 253 | 253 | | (i) discovery and investigation, includ-14 |
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| 254 | 254 | | ing witness interviews; 15 |
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| 255 | 255 | | (ii) court time, including preparation 16 |
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| 256 | 256 | | and appearances; 17 |
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| 257 | 257 | | (iii) client communication and care; 18 |
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| 258 | 258 | | (iv) research and writing, including 19 |
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| 259 | 259 | | motions practice; and 20 |
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| 260 | 260 | | (v) administrative work. 21 |
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| 261 | 261 | | (C) The number of cases handled, broken 22 |
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| 262 | 262 | | down by— 23 |
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| 263 | 263 | | (i) case type, including by— 24 |
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| 264 | 264 | | (I) the most serious charge; and 25 |
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| 267 | 267 | | •S 1102 IS |
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| 268 | 268 | | (II) each secondary charge; 1 |
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| 269 | 269 | | (ii) the race, ethnicity, age, and gen-2 |
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| 270 | 270 | | der of the client; 3 |
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| 271 | 271 | | (iii) the date on which the attorney 4 |
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| 272 | 272 | | was appointed to the case; 5 |
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| 273 | 273 | | (iv) whether the case remained open 6 |
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| 274 | 274 | | as of the last day of the fiscal year, and 7 |
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| 275 | 275 | | if not, the date on which the case was 8 |
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| 276 | 276 | | closed; and 9 |
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| 277 | 277 | | (v) the resolution of the case, if the 10 |
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| 278 | 278 | | case was concluded by the last day of the 11 |
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| 279 | 279 | | fiscal year. 12 |
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| 280 | 280 | | (D) Any other information as the Attorney 13 |
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| 281 | 281 | | General determines appropriate. 14 |
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| 282 | 282 | | (3) R |
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| 283 | 283 | | ENEWAL.—Upon application from an eligi-15 |
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| 284 | 284 | | ble entity that received a data grant, the Attorney 16 |
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| 285 | 285 | | General may award a subsequent data grant to the 17 |
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| 286 | 286 | | eligible entity for an additional term that may begin 18 |
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| 287 | 287 | | upon termination of the initial data grant. 19 |
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| 288 | 288 | | (c) H |
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| 289 | 289 | | IRINGGRANTS.— 20 |
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| 290 | 290 | | (1) A |
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| 291 | 291 | | PPLICATION REQUIREMENTS .—An eligible 21 |
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| 292 | 292 | | entity desiring a hiring grant shall submit to the At-22 |
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| 293 | 293 | | torney General an application that includes, as of 23 |
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| 294 | 294 | | the date of the application— 24 |
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| 297 | 297 | | •S 1102 IS |
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| 298 | 298 | | (A) the caseload and number of, and pay 1 |
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| 299 | 299 | | scale for, attorneys and other staff of each ap-2 |
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| 300 | 300 | | plicable public defender’s office; and 3 |
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| 301 | 301 | | (B)(i) the number of panel attorneys with-4 |
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| 302 | 302 | | in the jurisdiction of the eligible entity; 5 |
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| 303 | 303 | | (ii) the total number of cases assigned to 6 |
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| 304 | 304 | | the attorneys described in clause (i); and 7 |
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| 305 | 305 | | (iii) the average number of hours spent on 8 |
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| 306 | 306 | | a case by an attorney described in clause (i). 9 |
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| 307 | 307 | | (2) T |
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| 308 | 308 | | ERM.—The term of a hiring grant shall be 10 |
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| 309 | 309 | | 3 years. 11 |
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| 310 | 310 | | (3) U |
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| 311 | 311 | | SE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity may use 12 |
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| 312 | 312 | | a hiring grant to— 13 |
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| 313 | 313 | | (A) hire additional public defenders; 14 |
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| 314 | 314 | | (B) increase compensation for public de-15 |
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| 315 | 315 | | fenders or panel attorneys to achieve pay parity 16 |
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| 316 | 316 | | with corresponding prosecutor’s offices; 17 |
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| 317 | 317 | | (C) hire case workers, social workers, in-18 |
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| 318 | 318 | | vestigators, or paralegals; or 19 |
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| 319 | 319 | | (D) establish or fund a loan assistance 20 |
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| 320 | 320 | | program for public defenders. 21 |
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| 321 | 321 | | (4) S |
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| 322 | 322 | | UPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—An eligible 22 |
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| 323 | 323 | | entity may not use a hiring grant to supplant funds 23 |
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| 324 | 324 | | that the eligible entity would otherwise have used for 24 |
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| 327 | 327 | | •S 1102 IS |
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| 328 | 328 | | any authorized purpose described in paragraph (3) 1 |
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| 329 | 329 | | during the grant period. 2 |
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| 330 | 330 | | (5) R |
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| 331 | 331 | | EQUIRED DATA COLLECTION .—During 3 |
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| 332 | 332 | | each fiscal year of the grant period, an eligible entity 4 |
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| 333 | 333 | | that receives a hiring grant shall collect the data de-5 |
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| 334 | 334 | | scribed in subsection (b)(2). 6 |
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| 335 | 335 | | (d) S |
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| 336 | 336 | | UBMISSIONREQUIREMENT.—Not later than 60 7 |
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| 337 | 337 | | days after the end of a fiscal year, an eligible entity that 8 |
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| 338 | 338 | | receives a data grant or hiring grant shall submit to the 9 |
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| 339 | 339 | | Attorney General the data described in subsection (b)(2) 10 |
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| 340 | 340 | | for that fiscal year. 11 |
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| 341 | 341 | | (e) M |
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| 342 | 342 | | ULTIPLEDEFENDANTS.—If a prosecutor’s 12 |
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| 343 | 343 | | charging document states that multiple defendants were 13 |
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| 344 | 344 | | involved in a single incident of alleged criminal or delin-14 |
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| 345 | 345 | | quent conduct, each defendant shall be considered a sepa-15 |
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| 346 | 346 | | rate case for purposes of the collection of data described 16 |
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| 347 | 347 | | in subsection (b)(2). 17 |
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| 348 | 348 | | (f) A |
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| 349 | 349 | | UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 18 |
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| 350 | 350 | | are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General 19 |
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| 351 | 351 | | to carry out this section— 20 |
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| 352 | 352 | | (1) $250,000,000 for each of the first 5 fiscal 21 |
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| 353 | 353 | | years beginning after the date of enactment of this 22 |
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| 354 | 354 | | Act; and 23 |
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| 355 | 355 | | (2) such sums as may be necessary for each fis-24 |
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| 356 | 356 | | cal year thereafter. 25 |
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| 359 | 359 | | •S 1102 IS |
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| 360 | 360 | | SEC. 5. STUDIES. 1 |
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| 361 | 361 | | (a) S |
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| 362 | 362 | | TUDIES.— 2 |
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| 363 | 363 | | (1) C |
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| 364 | 364 | | ASELOAD LIMITS STUDY.— 3 |
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| 365 | 365 | | (A) I |
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| 366 | 366 | | N GENERAL.—After the end of the 4 |
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| 367 | 367 | | first fiscal year for which data grants are 5 |
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| 368 | 368 | | awarded, the Attorney General, acting through 6 |
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| 369 | 369 | | the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assist-7 |
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| 370 | 370 | | ance and the Director of the Office for Access 8 |
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| 371 | 371 | | to Justice, shall— 9 |
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| 372 | 372 | | (i) conduct a study to analyze the 10 |
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| 373 | 373 | | data submitted to the Attorney General 11 |
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| 374 | 374 | | under section 4(d) for that fiscal year re-12 |
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| 375 | 375 | | lated to public defender and panel attorney 13 |
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| 376 | 376 | | caseloads and correlated outcomes; 14 |
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| 377 | 377 | | (ii) review studies, reports, and other 15 |
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| 378 | 378 | | data published or provided by professional 16 |
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| 379 | 379 | | organizations, legal associations, and bar 17 |
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| 380 | 380 | | associations related to public defender and 18 |
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| 381 | 381 | | panel attorney caseloads; and 19 |
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| 382 | 382 | | (iii) develop and publish best practices 20 |
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| 383 | 383 | | and recommendations for setting public de-21 |
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| 384 | 384 | | fender and panel attorney caseloads based 22 |
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| 385 | 385 | | on the information described in clauses (i) 23 |
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| 386 | 386 | | and (ii) to ensure— 24 |
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| 387 | 387 | | (I) reasonably effective assistance 25 |
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| 388 | 388 | | of counsel pursuant to constitutional 26 |
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| 391 | 391 | | •S 1102 IS |
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| 392 | 392 | | standards and prevailing professional 1 |
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| 393 | 393 | | norms; and 2 |
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| 394 | 394 | | (II) competent representation 3 |
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| 395 | 395 | | pursuant to applicable rules of profes-4 |
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| 396 | 396 | | sional responsibility. 5 |
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| 397 | 397 | | (B) C |
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| 398 | 398 | | ONTINUING STUDY .—Not less fre-6 |
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| 399 | 399 | | quently than once every 5 years, the Attorney 7 |
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| 400 | 400 | | General shall— 8 |
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| 401 | 401 | | (i) study and review new studies, re-9 |
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| 402 | 402 | | ports, or other data as described in sub-10 |
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| 403 | 403 | | paragraph (A)(ii); and 11 |
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| 404 | 404 | | (ii) update the best practices and rec-12 |
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| 405 | 405 | | ommendations under subparagraph 13 |
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| 406 | 406 | | (A)(iii). 14 |
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| 407 | 407 | | (2) C |
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| 408 | 408 | | OMPENSATION STUDY .—Not later than 3 15 |
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| 409 | 409 | | years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 16 |
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| 410 | 410 | | Attorney General, acting through the Director of the 17 |
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| 411 | 411 | | Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Director of the 18 |
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| 412 | 412 | | Office for Access to Justice, shall— 19 |
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| 413 | 413 | | (A) conduct a national study of public de-20 |
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| 414 | 414 | | fender salaries and panel attorney rates, using 21 |
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| 415 | 415 | | prosecutors’ salaries as one benchmark; and 22 |
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| 416 | 416 | | (B) develop and publish best practices and 23 |
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| 417 | 417 | | recommendations relating to compensation of 24 |
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| 418 | 418 | | public defenders and panel attorneys. 25 |
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| 421 | 421 | | •S 1102 IS |
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| 422 | 422 | | (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 1 |
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| 423 | 423 | | are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General 2 |
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| 424 | 424 | | such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section. 3 |
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| 425 | 425 | | SEC. 6. STATE DATA COLLECTION. 4 |
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| 426 | 426 | | (a) I |
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| 427 | 427 | | NGENERAL.—For any fiscal year beginning 5 |
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| 428 | 428 | | after the date of enactment of this Act, a State that re-6 |
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| 429 | 429 | | ceives funds under subpart 1 of part E of title I of the 7 |
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| 430 | 430 | | Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 8 |
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| 431 | 431 | | U.S.C. 10151 et seq.) may submit to the Office for Access 9 |
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| 432 | 432 | | to Justice of the Department of Justice data on, with re-10 |
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| 433 | 433 | | spect to criminal cases heard by a court of the State or 11 |
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| 434 | 434 | | of a unit of local government in the State during that fis-12 |
|---|
| 435 | 435 | | cal year, the number of cases for which a defendant was 13 |
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| 436 | 436 | | represented in court by a public defender or panel attor-14 |
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| 437 | 437 | | ney, broken down by— 15 |
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| 438 | 438 | | (1) the most serious charge and the total num-16 |
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| 439 | 439 | | ber of secondary charges in each case; and 17 |
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| 440 | 440 | | (2) race, ethnicity, age, and gender of the de-18 |
|---|
| 441 | 441 | | fendant. 19 |
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| 442 | 442 | | (b) A |
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| 443 | 443 | | PPLICABLECRIMINALOFFENSES.—A State 20 |
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| 444 | 444 | | that elects to submit data under subsection (a) shall in-21 |
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| 445 | 445 | | clude data with respect to— 22 |
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| 446 | 446 | | (1) criminal offenses for which a term of im-23 |
|---|
| 447 | 447 | | prisonment of more than 1 year may be imposed; 24 |
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| 450 | 450 | | •S 1102 IS |
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| 451 | 451 | | (2) criminal offenses for which a term of im-1 |
|---|
| 452 | 452 | | prisonment of 1 year or less may be imposed, includ-2 |
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| 453 | 453 | | ing misdemeanors, traffic violations, and violations 3 |
|---|
| 454 | 454 | | of municipal ordinances; and 4 |
|---|
| 455 | 455 | | (3) acts of juvenile delinquency or juvenile sta-5 |
|---|
| 456 | 456 | | tus offenses for which any term of detention may be 6 |
|---|
| 457 | 457 | | imposed. 7 |
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| 458 | 458 | | (c) F |
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| 459 | 459 | | UNDING.—A State that receives funds under 8 |
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| 460 | 460 | | subpart 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Con-9 |
|---|
| 461 | 461 | | trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et 10 |
|---|
| 462 | 462 | | seq.) may apply for, and the Attorney General may award, 11 |
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| 463 | 463 | | a 5 percent increase in those funds, to be used by the 12 |
|---|
| 464 | 464 | | State to collect and provide to the Office for Access to 13 |
|---|
| 465 | 465 | | Justice of the Department of Justice the data described 14 |
|---|
| 466 | 466 | | in subsection (a) of this section. 15 |
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| 467 | 467 | | SEC. 7. FUNDING FOR EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS. 16 |
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| 468 | 468 | | (a) D |
|---|
| 469 | 469 | | EFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘eligible 17 |
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| 470 | 470 | | entity’’ means an entity that is— 18 |
|---|
| 471 | 471 | | (1) an organization— 19 |
|---|
| 472 | 472 | | (A) described in paragraph (3) or (6) of 20 |
|---|
| 473 | 473 | | section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 21 |
|---|
| 474 | 474 | | 1986 and exempt from taxation under section 22 |
|---|
| 475 | 475 | | 501(a) of such Code; or 23 |
|---|
| 476 | 476 | | (B) funded by a State or unit of local gov-24 |
|---|
| 477 | 477 | | ernment; or 25 |
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| 480 | 480 | | •S 1102 IS |
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| 481 | 481 | | (2) a State, unit of local government, Indian 1 |
|---|
| 482 | 482 | | Tribal government, or political subdivision of an In-2 |
|---|
| 483 | 483 | | dian Tribe. 3 |
|---|
| 484 | 484 | | (b) G |
|---|
| 485 | 485 | | RANTS.—The Attorney General shall award 4 |
|---|
| 486 | 486 | | grants to eligible entities to provide a comprehensive edu-5 |
|---|
| 487 | 487 | | cational program to public defenders and panel attorneys 6 |
|---|
| 488 | 488 | | that offers— 7 |
|---|
| 489 | 489 | | (1) ongoing training and support; and 8 |
|---|
| 490 | 490 | | (2) programming that includes— 9 |
|---|
| 491 | 491 | | (A) skills training, including pretrial prac-10 |
|---|
| 492 | 492 | | tice, negotiation skills, trial skills, and sen-11 |
|---|
| 493 | 493 | | tencing advocacy; 12 |
|---|
| 494 | 494 | | (B) client-centered values; 13 |
|---|
| 495 | 495 | | (C) implicit bias training; 14 |
|---|
| 496 | 496 | | (D) leadership development; and 15 |
|---|
| 497 | 497 | | (E) ongoing support to reinforce the train-16 |
|---|
| 498 | 498 | | ing curriculum. 17 |
|---|
| 499 | 499 | | (c) A |
|---|
| 500 | 500 | | UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 18 |
|---|
| 501 | 501 | | are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General 19 |
|---|
| 502 | 502 | | to carry out this section $5,000,000 for each of the first 20 |
|---|
| 503 | 503 | | 5 fiscal years beginning after the date of enactment of 21 |
|---|
| 504 | 504 | | this Act. 22 |
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| 505 | 505 | | Æ |
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