[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 175 (Tuesday, September 10, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73448-73449]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-20378]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

[OMB Number 1121-0095]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed eCollection 
eComments Requested; Reinstatement, With Change, of a Previously 
Approved Collection: Census of Public Defender Offices

AGENCY: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Department of Justice.

ACTION: 60-Day notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Justice (DOJ), Bureau of Justice Statistics, 
will be submitting the following information collection request to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Comments are encouraged and will be accepted for 60 days until 
November 12, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have additional comments 
especially on the estimated public burden or associated response time, 
suggestions, or need a copy of the proposed information collection 
instrument with instructions or additional information, please contact 
Ryan Kling, Statistician, Judicial Statistics Unit, Bureau of Justice 
Statistics, 810 Seventh Street NW, Washington, DC 20531 (email: 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#386a41595616735451565f784d4b5c5752165f574e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d486adb5bafa9fb8bdbab394a1a7b0bbbefab3bba2">[email protected]</span></a>; telephone: 202-704-0076).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Written comments and suggestions from the 
public and affected agencies concerning the proposed collection of 
information are encouraged. Your comments should address one or more of 
the following four points:

--Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary 
for the proper performance of the functions of the Bureau of Justice 
Statistics, including whether the information will have practical 
utility;
--Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
--Evaluate whether and if so how the quality, utility, and clarity of 
the information to be collected can be enhanced; and
--Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are 
to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic 
submission of responses.

Overview of This Information Collection

    1. Type of Information Collection: Reinstatement, with change, of a 
previously approved collection.
    2. The Title of the Form/Collection: Census of Public Defender 
Offices (CPDO).
    3. The agency form number, if any, and the applicable component of 
the

[[Page 73449]]

Department sponsoring the collection: Form number(s): The instrument is 
CPDO-1. The applicable component within the Department of Justice is 
the Bureau of Justice Statistics (Judicial Statistics Unit), in the 
Office of Justice Programs.
    4. Affected public who will be asked or required to respond, as 
well as a brief abstract: Respondents will be leaders of public 
defender offices. The Census of Public Defender Offices (CPDO, OMB 
Number 1121-0095) is the only national data collection identifying and 
surveying all public defender offices in the U.S. and Territories since 
the first iteration of CPDO in 2007 (originally titled Survey of Public 
Defender Offices 2007). In 2013, the Bureau of Justice Statistics 
conducted the National Survey of Indigent Defense Systems (OMB Number 
1121-0095), expanding its scope to include not only public defender 
offices but also assigned counsel and contract attorneys. For purposes 
of this project, public defender offices are eligible for inclusion if 
they are publicly funded, have a physical address, at least one W-2 
earning attorney, and provide direct public defense representation for 
adults and/or juveniles who are accused of a crime or delinquency or 
accused in a trial court of violating conditions of a sentence.
    After locating all public defender offices in the U.S. within the 
defined scope, the 2023 CPDO will gather important metrics on public 
defender office operations from office leaders. Developed in 
consultation with public defense leaders, the survey includes sections 
addressing general office operations including expenditures and funding 
streams, staffing, caseloads, eligibility standards, and office 
resources.
    The 2023 instrument is a combination of questions from the 2007 
iteration and new or updated questions reflecting emerging issues in 
the field of public defense. Retaining historical questions will allow 
for trend analysis while the newer questions will provide informative 
data useful for practitioners, researchers and policymakers. Some 
examples of information provided by the CPDO include:

<bullet> Caseloads and case types
<bullet> Staff sizes and roles
<bullet> Staff attrition
<bullet> Staff salary ranges
<bullet> Demographics of chief public defender and staff attorneys
<bullet> Initial public defender appointment and contact practices
<bullet> Case management system capacity

    BJS will use the information gathered in CPDO in published reports 
and statistics. The reports will be made available to the U.S. 
Congress, Executive Office of the President, practitioners, 
researchers, students, the media, others interested in criminal justice 
statistics, and the general public via the BJS website.
    5. An estimate of the total number of respondents and the amount of 
time estimated for an average respondent to respond: BJS will send the 
survey to approximately 2,000 public defender offices (in 50 states, 
the District of Columbia and five U.S. Territories). The obligation to 
respond is voluntary. The expected burden placed on each respondent is 
about 1 hour.
    6. An estimate of the total public burden (in hours) associated 
with the collection: The total respondent burden is about 1,890 hours. 
BJS estimates approximately 6% (120) of offices receiving the survey 
will screen out of the survey due to ineligibility. The burden for out-
of-scope entities will be less than 5 minutes.

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                                           Number of
                                            public         Time per     Total time (in
                                           defender         survey         minutes)        Total burden hours
                                            offices
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Out of scope public defender offices..             120               5             600  10 hours (600 mins/60
                                                                                         mins).
In scope public defender offices......           1,880              60         112,800  1,880 hours (112,800
                                                                                         mins/60 mins).
    Total.............................           2,000  ..............  ..............  1,890 hours.
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    7. An estimate of the total annual cost burden associated with the 
collection, if applicable: No costs other than the cost of the hour 
burden exist for this data collection.
    If additional information is required, contact: Darwin Arceo, 
Department Clearance Officer, Policy and Planning Staff, Justice 
Management Division, United States Department of Justice, Two 
Constitution Square, 145 N Street NE, 3E.206, Washington, DC 20530.

    Dated: September 5, 2024.
Darwin Arceo,
Department Clearance Officer for PRA, Policy and Planning Staff, Office 
of the Chief Information Officer, U.S. Department of Justice.
[FR Doc. 2024-20378 Filed 9-9-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-18-P


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