January - June 2023: Meets monthly to identify and lend expertise on issues to rural public defense. the RDSC will be meeting in person in Nov. in Salt Lake City, UT and in the Spring of 2024.
July-Dec. 2023: The RDAG group met virtually 4 times this reporting period to discuss issues that are challenging rural public defense. Chief among these is recruitment and retention. We also conducted an in person convening of the group. On November 1-3, 8 members of the RDAG plus 1 NACDL staff member met in Michigan, visiting 4 different public defense providers in small/rural communities. Each provider utilized a different model of public defense delivery, allowing the RDAG members an opportunity to explore and discuss different delivery systems, including a managed assigned counsel office, a holistic defender, a non-profit defense office, and a jurisdiction that split its office to create its own alternate defender office to address conflict issues. Each stop provided opportunities for the group to both offer their perspectives to the local offices and to learn from those local offices. Several ideas from that convening are currently being explored by the RDAG members. A report on the trip will be completed in the upcoming year.
Jan.-June 2024: Rural Defender Steering Committee: On going
The Rural Defender Advisory Group continues to meet monthly to discuss current and emerging issues. Planning is underway for an August in-person convening of the group in Washington, where they will meet with several rural and municipal public defense providers, as well as an innovative program that is working to promote law school attendance by Latinx and Native American youth.
July-Dec. 2024: The group met virtually on a monthly basis, and convened in person in August, 14-16, 2024 in Washington to examine their state municipal court practices, as well as their work in transitioning from contract counsel to institutional defenders and to learn about a promising program to develop more attorneys to serve Central Washington. An additional trip for the group is planned for late spring 2025.
Please check the box next to the following questions if the answer is 'yes'.
Please enter the applicable Event Date if there is an Event associated with this TTA.
When entering an Event Date, the Time is also required.
If the TTA is targeted to a particular audience or location, please complete the questions below.
Milestones are an element, activity, work product, or key task associated with completing the TTA (e.g. kick-off meeting, collect data from stake holders, deliver initial data analysis).
Please complete the fields below, if applicable, to create a milestone for this TTA.
Please respond to the Performance Metrics below. The Performance Metrics questions are based on the TTA Type indicated in the General Information section of the TTA.
Please submit a signed letter of support from your agency’s executive or other senior staff member. The letter can be emailed to or uploaded with this request. The letter should be submitted on official letterhead and include the following information:
- General information regarding the request for TTA services, i.e., the who, what, where, when, and why.
- The organizational and/or community needs specific to the request for TTA services.
- The benefits or anticipated outcomes from the receipt of TTA services.
By submitting this application to BJA NTTAC, I understand that upon approval of this application for TTA, the requestor agrees to keep BJA NTTAC informed of any circumstances that may impact the delivery of the TTA, including changes in the date of the event, event cancellation, or difficulties communicating with the assigned TTA provider.
Please call [site:phone] if you need further assistance completing this application.