16TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT'S PUBLIC DEFENDER RECEIVES INDIGENT DEFENSE GRANT

$79,000 Will Allow Public Defenders to Enhance Communication

WASHINGTON, D.C.--The Office of the Public Defender 16th Judicial Circuit in Key West, Florida will use new funds from the Justice Department to automate its case management system and purchase video conferencing equipment to improve its communication between circuit court offices and other entities within the criminal justice system.

Under the leadership of the Attorney General, the Justice Department has been working to improve the level of assistance provided by counsel for indigent criminal defendants. The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)--the component of the Justice Department's Office of Justice Programs (OJP) making this award today--met with indigent defense experts and practitioners and used information from that meeting to develop the "Emerging Issues in Indigent Defense Management Technology" program, under which this grant is being made.

"The indigent defense community has long been underserved," said BJA Director Nancy Gist. "Indigent defense offices across the country lack the tools that could help them better serve those they are asked to defend. We hope by making grants such as this one to the New York Legal Aid Society we can help indigent defense providers overcome the many obstacles they face."

This is one of seven grants being made by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) under a special discretionary grant program designed to improve the delivery of indigent defense. BJA received 101 proposals for funds under this program. Other sites being funded include the Legal Aid Society of New York in New York City; the Navajo County Public Defender; the Middle Judicial Circuit of Tripartite in Lyons, Georgia; the Tennessee District Public Defenders Conference in Nashville, Tennessee; the El Paso County Public Defender's Office in El Paso, Texas; and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in Rosebud, South Dakota.

On February 25 and 26, 1999, OJP and BJA hosted a national symposium, "Improving Criminal Justice Systems Through Expanded Strategies and Innovative Collaborations." At the symposium, federal officials and indigent defense practitioners and experts were provided a forum to explore practical ways to help indigent defense providers to effectively forge alliances, build and strengthen innovative partnerships, and collaborate to enhance the representation of indigent criminal defenders.

For additional information about BJA and its programs, visit its Internet website at: https://ojp.gov/BJA

For information on the 16th Judicial Circuit's program, contact Mary Cintron at 305/294-2501.

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BJA99-046.E