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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 228 (Tuesday, November 26, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 93351-93352]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-27684]

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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 for Which Approval Has Expired: Census of Public 
Defender Offices

AGENCY: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Department of Justice.

ACTION: 30-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 30 days until 
December 26, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have 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, 
999 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 (email: 
[email protected]; telephone: 202-704-0076).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed information collection was 
previously published in the Federal Register on September 5, 2024, 
allowing a 60-day comment period. BJS received 2 comments during the 
60-day period, and they are being addressed in the full package to OMB.
    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:

[[Page 93352]]

--Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary 
for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 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;
--Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be 
collected; and/or
--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.

    Written comments and recommendations for this information 
collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of 
this notice on the following website www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. 
Find this particular information collection by selecting ``Currently 
under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search 
function and entering either the title of the information collection or 
the OMB Control Number: OMB 1121-0339. This information collection 
request may be viewed at www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to 
view Department of Justice, information collections currently under 
review by OMB.
    DOJ seeks PRA authorization for this information collection for 
three (3) years. OMB authorization for an ICR cannot be for more than 
three (3) years without renewal. The DOJ notes that information 
collection requirements submitted to the OMB for existing ICRs receive 
a month-to-month extension while they undergo review.

Overview of This Information Collection

    1. Type of Information Collection: New Collection.
    2. Title of the Form/Collection: Census of Public Defender Offices 
(CPDO).
    3. Agency form number, if any, and the applicable component of the 
Department of Justice 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: Affected Public: Respondents will be leaders 
of local publicly funded public defender offices.
    5. Abstract: The Census of Public Defender Offices (CPDO, OMB 
Number 1121-0339) 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. 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 2024 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 2024 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:

 Caseloads and case types
 Staff sizes and roles
 Staff attrition
 Staff salary ranges
 Demographics of chief public defender and staff attorneys
 Initial public defender appointment and contact practices
 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.
    6. Obligation To Respond: The obligation to respond is voluntary.
    7. Total Estimated Number of Respondents: BJS will send the survey 
to approximately 2,000 public defender offices (in 50 states, the 
District of Columbia and five U.S. Territories).
    8. Estimated Time per Respondent: The expected burden placed on 
each respondent is just over 1 hour.
    9. Frequency: Periodic--the prior similar census was 17 years 
prior.
    10. Total Estimated Annual Time Burden: 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 offices     survey       minutes)        Total burden hours
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Out of scope public defender offices..                120            5             600  10 hours (600 mins/60
                                                                                         mins).
In scope public defender offices......              1,880           62         116,560  1,943 hours (116,560
                                                                                         mins/60 mins).
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    Total.............................              2,000  ...........  ..............  1,953 hours.
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    11. Total Estimated Annual Other Costs Burden: 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, 4W-218, Washington, DC 20530.

    Dated: November 21, 2024.
Darwin Arceo,
Department Clearance Officer for PRA, U.S. Department of Justice.
[FR Doc. 2024-27684 Filed 11-25-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-18-P
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