I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1408 
To incentivize States and localities to improve access to justice, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 26, 2021 
Mr. DEUTCH (for himself, Mrs. DEMINGS, Ms. DEAN, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. 
MENG, and Mr. SCOTT of Virginia) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To incentivize States and localities to improve access to 
justice, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ensuring Quality Ac-
cess to Legal Defense Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘EQUAL De-
fense Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 
The purpose of this Act is— 
(1) to protect the rights of defendants in crimi-
nal cases to due process and a fair trial under the 
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Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the 
Constitution of the United States, including the 
right to counsel in State criminal trials, as articu-
lated by the United States Supreme Court in Gideon 
v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963); 
(2) to collect data related to public defense in 
order to facilitate the development of evidence-based 
workload limits, and for other purposes; and 
(3) to ensure that public defender compensation 
reflects the constitutional imperative of the work and 
adequately incentivizes attorneys at all levels to pur-
sue a career in public defense. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act, except as otherwise provided in section 
6: 
(1) APPLICABLE COURT.—The term ‘‘applicable 
court’’, with respect to an eligible entity that is— 
(A) a State or unit of local government, 
means— 
(i) a court of the eligible entity; and 
(ii) a court of a unit of local govern-
ment within the eligible entity; and 
(B) a Tribal organization, means a court 
of the Indian Tribe. 
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(2) APPLICABLE
PUBLIC
DEFENDER’S
OF-
FICE.—The term ‘‘applicable public defender’s of-
fice’’, with respect to an eligible entity that is— 
(A) a public defender’s office, means the 
eligible entity; 
(B) a State or unit of local government, 
means— 
(i) the public defender’s office of the 
eligible entity; and 
(ii) a public defender’s office of a unit 
of local government within the eligible enti-
ty; and 
(C) a Tribal organization, means the pub-
lic defender’s office of the Tribal organization. 
(3) BASIS
OF
COMPENSATION.—The term 
‘‘basis of compensation’’ means the classification of 
the compensation of an employee into one of the fol-
lowing categories: 
(A) Hourly. 
(B) Flat rate. 
(C) Per case. 
(D) Salary. 
(4) CASE.— 
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(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘‘case’’ in-
cludes all charges involved in a single incident 
of alleged criminal or delinquent conduct. 
(B) MULTIPLE DEFENDANTS.—If a charg-
ing document states that multiple defendants 
were involved in a single incident of alleged 
criminal or delinquent conduct, each defendant 
shall be counted as a separate case. 
(5) CASE TYPE.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘case type’’ 
means the classification of a client’s case into 
one of the following categories, as defined under 
State law: 
(i) Juvenile. 
(ii) Misdemeanor. 
(iii) Felony. 
(iv) Life without parole. 
(v) Capital or death penalty. 
(B) MULTIPLE
CHARGES.—If a case in-
volves multiple charges, the case type shall be 
determined according to the dominant charge. 
(6) CHIEF
PROSECUTOR.—The term ‘‘chief 
prosecutor’’, with respect to— 
(A) a State, means the attorney general of 
the State; 
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