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Public Defender awarded federal innovation grant to develop national checklist system to improve indigent defense
Summary
The Public Defender's Office announced a roughly $400,000 Bureau of Justice Assistance grant to create and pilot a checklist system to reduce errors in indigent defense, to be evaluated with the Center for Court Innovation and piloted partially in Alameda County.
The committee heard from Simeon Shamji of the Public Defender's Office that the office received a Bureau of Justice Assistance Encouraging Innovation Grant to develop a checklist system aimed at improving the quality of indigent defense and reducing unnecessary confinement.
Shamji said the three‑year project will identify risk areas, collaborate with attorneys, create checklists, and pilot them in a neighboring county (Alameda) before broader dissemination. The Public Defender's Office is partnering with the Center for Court Innovation to evaluate effectiveness and produce recommendations.
No budget analyst report was required for the acceptance and the committee moved the item forward without public comment.
