the texas weighted caseload study

Public Policy Research Institute Phone: (979) 845-8800 http://ppri.tamu.edu

The Texas Weighted Caseload Study

Developing Evidence-BasedCaseload Guidelines for Effective Court-Appointed Representation


Indigent Defense in Texas

• 48th in per-capita spending

• Counties pay over 80% of cost

• Attorneys are not adequately compensated for defense quality



• How widespread is the problem?

o Harris County, 2012: Top 10% averaged 632 appointments

32 attorneys received more than 400 cases

One attorney took 952 cases

45% of felony cases were represented by attorneys with caseloads >150 clients



A lawyer with an “S” on his

chest for Superman couldn’t

represent these people.

- Professor Norman

Lefstein


House Bill 1318

Not later than January 1, 2012, the Texas Indigent Defense Commission shall conduct and

publish a study for the purpose of determining guidelines for establishing a maximum

allowable caseload for a criminal defense attorney that… allows the attorney to give each

indigent defendant the time and effort necessary to ensure effective representation.


Public Policy Research InstituteTexas A&M University

• Established by the Legislature in 1984

• Land grant philosophy -- Portal for

policymakers to access university expertise

• Original data collection; Survey research;

Large database analysis; Qualitative methods

• 30-40 projects/year; 15 state agency partners

• Criminal justice, Education, Public health,

Social services, Substance abuse


o Impacts of the FDA on Texas Counties

o Public Defender Feasibility Study

o Mental Health Public Defender

o Direct Electronic Filing in Criminal Cases

o Regional Public Defender for Capital Cases

o Texas Weighted Caseload Study

Public PolicyResearch Institute


TIDC Websites

• Public Indigent Defense Data

• County Reporting Website

• Innocence Project Reporting

Website


Tasks and Timeline

2013 2014

9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Task 1: Advisory Panel Planning

Task 2: Attorney Time Data Collection

Recruit Attorneys

Collect Attorney Time Data

Analyze Attorney Time Data

Task 3: Sufficiency of Time Survey

Task 4: Adjust Case Weights thru Delphi Process

Task 5: Prepare Final Report


Essential Partners

• Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association

• State Bar of Texas

• National Authorities

• Experienced Public Defenders

• Texas Defense Attorneys


Tasks and Timeline

2013 2014

9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12



Recruit Attorneys







http://texaswcl.tamu.edu


Recruit Attorneys

Largest Counties in eachAdministrative Judicial Region


Recruit Attorneys

Largest Counties in eachAdministrative Judicial Region

Strategy:Local TCDLA/ Criminal Defense Bar Associations


Recruit Attorneys

All Trial-Level Public Defender Offices


Recruit Attorneys

Strategy:Direct Appeal to Chiefs

All Trial-Level Public Defender Offices


Recruit Attorneys

39 Counties with Population > 100,000


Recruit Attorneys

39 Counties with Population > 100,000

Strategy:Telephone Recruitment


Recruit Attorneys

o Why telephone

recruitment?

Balanced attorney enrollment


Recruit Attorneys

Potential Sampling Frame


Recruit Attorneys

o Why telephone recruitment? Diverse counties

Do indigent defense policies impact attorney time and case quality?


Recruit Attorneys

o Why telephone

recruitment? Assertive outreach and marketing

Increased sample size


Recruit Attorneys

More participating attorneys Larger sample of cases

More informative results re: effects of…

o Attorney Characteristics o (e.g., experience or special qualifications)

o Client Characteristics o (e.g., juvenile, criminal history, mental health

concerns)

o Case Factors o (e.g., client in custody, probation concerns,

specialty court)

o Defense Tactics o (e.g., use of experts, use of investigators)


Recruit Attorneys

+ Preliminary Approval for CLEs!

Great Incentives…


Tasks and Timeline

2013 2014

9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12



Recruit Attorneys








• Webinar training

• Custom defenderData software by Justice Works

• Attorneys keep time for 12 weeks


Tasks and Timeline

2013 2014

9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12



Recruit Attorneys







Hypothetical Attorney Time Data

Data Collected From Attorneys

Avg. Mins./

Case Type over 12 Weeks

Apptd. F1 6,194 Apptd. F2-3 4,646 Apptd. SJF 3,097 Apptd. Misd. 2,065 Other Cases 5,936 Non-Atty. Time

3,871



Data Collected From Attorneys

Avg. Mins./


Avg. # Open

Cases in 12 Weeks

Apptd. F1 6,194 14.83 Apptd. F2-3 4,646 11.41 Apptd. SJF 3,097 9.17 Apptd. Misd. 2,065 44.81 Other Cases 5,936 20.16 Non-Atty. Time

3,871



Data Collected From AttorneysCase Weight Computation

Avg. Mins./


Avg. # Open

Cases in 12 Weeks

Avg. Mins./ Case Type

in 12 Weeks(avg. mins./

# cases)

Apptd. F1 6,194 14.83 417.79 Apptd. F2-3 4,646 11.41 407.04 Apptd. SJF 3,097 9.17 337.92 Apptd. Misd.

2,065 44.81 46.08

Other Cases 5,936 20.16 294.40 Non-Atty. Time

3,871




Avg. Mins./


Avg. # Open

Cases in 12 Weeks



# cases)

% FTE/Case

Apptd. F1 6,194 14.83 417.79 1.62%Apptd. F2-3 4,646 11.41 407.04 1.58%Apptd. SJF 3,097 9.17 337.92 1.31%Apptd. Misd.

2,065 44.81 46.08 0.18%

Other Cases 5,936 20.16 294.40 1.14%Non-Atty. Time

3,871




Avg. Time Spent

onClient Comm.

Avg. Time Spent

onCase Prep.

Avg. Time Spent

onCourt Time

Avg. Time Spent

onAdmi

n/ Other

Avg. Mins./


Avg. # Open

Cases in 12 Weeks



# cases)

% FTE/Case

Apptd. F1 1,858 2,478 1,239 619 6,194 14.83 417.79 1.62%Apptd. F2-3 1,394 1,858 929 465 4,646 11.41 407.04 1.58%Apptd. SJF 929 1,239 619 310 3,097 9.17 337.92 1.31%Apptd. Misd.

619 826 413 2062,065 44.81 46.08 0.18%

Other Cases 1,781 2,374 1,187 594 5,936 20.16 294.40 1.14%Non-Atty. Time

3,871



Case Weights Expressed asPERCENT FTEs

# Cases Open for a

Specific Attorney

Case Weight as FTE

% FTE Spent on Cases(# cases x “% FTE” case

weight)

Apptd. F1 38 1.62% 61.51%Apptd. F2 25 1.58% 39.43%Other Cases 15 1.14% 17.11%

WEIGHTED CASELOAD:

118.05%


Tasks and Timeline

2013 2014

9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12



Recruit Attorneys







“Sufficiency of Time” Survey

• Do attorneys feel they have sufficient time for essential activities and functions?

• Where is practice acceptable?

• Where is more time needed?


Tasks and Timeline

2013 2014

9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12



Recruit Attorneys







Delphi Process

• Problems that cannot be precisely measured

• Collective expert judgments

• Questionnaires + Opinion Feedback


Tasks and Timeline

2013 2014

9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12



Recruit Attorneys







Final Report


Public PolicyResearch Institute

the texas weighted caseload study

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