Defender Services

AO Director Mecham established a separate Office of Defender Services on July 1, 2004 , in recognition of the importance of the defender services program and its mission—ensuring the right to counsel guaranteed to all citizens is enforced.

In March 2004, the Judicial Conference officially recognized the 40 th anniversary of the Criminal Justice Act of 1964, which created a nationally heralded program, administered by the Judiciary, for the appointment and compensation of counsel to represent individuals charged with a federal crime who cannot pay for their defense. Federal defender organizations, authorized by a 1970 amendment to the Criminal Justice Act, now serve 83 of the 94 federal judicial districts. The federal Judiciary has been a proud steward of the Criminal Justice Act program, which has become a fundamental and critical component of the American criminal justice system.

AO Director Mecham established a separate Office of Defender Services on July 1, 2004, in recognition of the importance of the defender services program and its mission—ensuring that the right to counsel guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment, the Criminal Justice Act, and other congressional mandates, is enforced on behalf of those who cannot afford to retain counsel and other necessary defense services.

In FY 2004, the Office of Defender Services provided staff support to the Conference Committee on Defender Services as it developed and implemented numerous cost-containment initiatives. One initiative required each federal defender organization, before hiring legal staff, to obtain advance approval from the Office of Defender Services. Approval was granted only where the organization demonstrated that the position was necessary to meet a critical need and justified any proposed salary to be offered above the entry level for the position. Other cost-containment initiatives will focus on improving the methods used to allocate federal defender organization resources.

In the technology area, the Office of Defender Services is converting the federal defender organization e-mail application from cc:Mail to Lotus Notes. The system design supports all federal defender organization e-mail needs through servers situated at two data service centers. The migration of the new e-mail software is expected to be completed in early 2005.

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