-> States and localities are several methods for delivering indigent defences services are public defender programs, assigned counsel, and contract attorney systems.
-> Twenty-eight percent of State court prosecutors reported that their jurisdictions used public defender programs exclusively to provide indigent counsel.
-> In 1990 State and local governments spent approximately $1.3 billion on public defenders services. In 1979 this figure was about $300 million.
->About three-fourts of the inmates in state prisons and about half of those in Federal prisons received publicly-provided legal counsel for the offense for which they were serving time.
-> In 1992 about 80% of defendants charged with felonies in the Nation's 75 largest counties relied on a public defender or on assigned counsel for legal representation.
-> Little current information is available regarding the workload, staffing procedures, or policies for indigent defense services across the Nation.