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Texas Weighted Caseload Study

Texas Weighted Caseload Study. Developing Evidence-Based Caseload Guidelines for Effective Court-Appointed Representation. Chair: The Honorable Sharon Keller, Presiding Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals Vice Chair: The Honorable Olen Underwood.

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Texas Weighted Caseload Study

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  1. Texas Weighted Caseload Study Developing Evidence-Based Caseload Guidelines for Effective Court-Appointed Representation

  2. Chair: The Honorable Sharon Keller, Presiding Judge, Court of Criminal AppealsVice Chair: The Honorable Olen Underwood

  3. The mission of the Texas Indigent Defense Commission is to provide financial and technical support to counties to develop and maintain quality, cost-effective indigent defense systems that meet the needs of local communities and the requirements of the Constitution and state law.

  4. 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.

  5. Today’s Agenda • Why Understanding Caseloads Matters • Consider Lessons Learned Elsewhere • Review Texas Framework & Strategy • Identify Key Factors for Texas Success

  6. History of Time Tracking

  7. Case Log Sheet

  8. Case Closing Sheet

  9. 2008 defenderData

  10. defenderData Time Entry Screen

  11. Benefits of Tracking Attorney Time

  12. Texas Weighted Caseload Study Developing Evidence-Based Caseload Guidelines for Effective Court-Appointed Representation

  13. 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

  14. Public Policy Research Institute Impacts of the FDA on Texas Counties Public Defender Feasibility Study Mental Health Public Defender Direct Electronic Filing in Criminal Cases Regional Public Defender for Capital Cases Texas Weighted Caseload Study

  15. TIDC Websites • Public Indigent Defense Data • County Reporting Website • Innocence Project Reporting Website

  16. Tasks and Timeline

  17. Tasks and Timeline

  18. Essential Partners • Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association • State Bar of Texas • National Authorities • Public Defenders • Criminal Defense Attorneys

  19. Tasks and Timeline

  20. Tasks and Timeline

  21. Tasks and Timeline

  22. Tasks and Timeline

  23. http://texaswcl.tamu.edu

  24. Recruit Attorneys Largest Counties in each Administrative Judicial Region

  25. Recruit Attorneys Largest Counties in each Administrative Judicial Region Strategy: Local TCDLA/ Criminal Defense Bar Associations

  26. Recruit Attorneys All Trial-Level Public Defender Offices

  27. Recruit Attorneys All Trial-Level Public Defender Offices Strategy: Direct Appeal to Chiefs

  28. Recruit Attorneys 39 Counties with Population > 100,000

  29. Recruit Attorneys 39 Counties with Population > 100,000 Strategy: Telephone Recruitment

  30. Recruit Attorneys • Why telephone recruitment? • Balanced attorney enrollment

  31. Recruit Attorneys Potential Sampling Frame

  32. Recruit Attorneys • Why telephone recruitment? • Diverse counties • Do indigent defense policies impact attorney time and case quality?

  33. Recruit Attorneys • Why telephone recruitment? • Assertive outreach and marketing • Increased sample size

  34. Recruit Attorneys More participating attorneys  Larger sample of cases  More informative results re: effects of… • Attorney Characteristics • (e.g., experience or special qualifications) • Client Characteristics • (e.g., juvenile, criminal history, mental health concerns) • Case Factors • (e.g., client in custody, probation concerns, specialty court) • Defense Tactics • (e.g., use of experts, use of investigators)

  35. Recruit Attorneys + Preliminary Approval for CLEs! Incentives…

  36. Collect Attorney Time Data • Webinar training • Custom defenderData software by Justice Works • Attorneys keep time for 12 weeks

  37. Collect Attorney Time Data

  38. Collect Attorney Time Data

  39. Collect Attorney Time Data

  40. Collect Attorney Time Data

  41. Collect Attorney Time Data

  42. Collect Attorney Time Data

  43. Collect Attorney Time Data

  44. Collect Attorney Time Data

  45. Tasks and Timeline

  46. “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?

  47. “Sufficiency of Time” Survey

  48. Tasks and Timeline

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