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The American Council of Chief Defenders is a national community of public defense leaders dedicated to securing a fair justice system and ensuring high quality legal representation for people facing loss of life, freedom or family.
ACCD MissonThe Mission of the American Council of Chief Defenders is to provide tools, strategies, mutual support, training and information to chief defenders; to speak as a national voice for public defense; to promote best practices in the leadership, management, and administration of justice; and to support development and reform of public defense systems.
MembershipACCD members must belong to NLADA in order to be a member of the Section. ACCD Section membership is open to all chiefs and deputy chiefs (i.e., first two in command hierarchy regardless of title) of all types of indigent defense systems in the United States and its territories, including the heads of county or judicial district offices within state systems. Prosecutors and Bench Officers are not eligible for membership.There are five ACCD Committees:
Leadership Development & Training Committee National Voice Committee Best Practices Committee Systems Development & Reform Committee For additional information about member benefits and services, go to the NLADA Member Services area of the Web site.
Assigned Counsel Preliminary ReportImplementation of the ABA's Ten Principles in Assigned-Counsel Systems Preliminary Report
ACCD Ethics OpinionDownload a PDF version of the American Council of Chief Defenders Ethics Opinion 03-01 on workloads (2003).
Law Student Loan ForgivenessLoan Forgiveness page
Caseloads and WorkloadsACCD Statement On Caseloads and Workloads')">Letter to the Chair of The ABA’s Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense by ACCD Chair Fern Laethem on the ACCD Caseload Report and Resolution (pdf, 31 Kb) *The letter was also sent to Presidents of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the National Legal Aid & Defender Association. Miami-Dade Public Defender Pleadings to Fight Excessive Caseloads ACCD support of public defender fight for reasonable caseloads in Miami-Dade, Florida (pdf, 251 Kb)
ResolutionsACCD Resolution in Support of Brian Jones, Public Defender Portage County Ohio (pdf, 12 Kb)Cover letter for ACCD’s Cook County, IL resolution in support of public defender independence and reasonable caseloads (pdf, 165 Kb) ACCD resolution in support of public defender independence and reasonable caseloads in Cook County, IL (pdf, 118 Kb) ACCD resolution in support of public defender fight for reasonable caseloads in the Commonwealth of Kentucky (pdf, 238 Kb)
Past Conference Materials"Public Defense: Leading the Way to Racial Justice": Video, written summaries, and conference material downloads from the ACCD’s summer conference are now available on-line!Propsed Adam Walsh Act Guidelines:Sex Offender Registration and Notification ACT (SORNA) Guidelines. These guidelines explicate the Adam Walsh Act's sex offender registration and notification provisions.
Press ReleasesPress Reslease publicizing ACCD’s resolution protesting unreasonably high caseloads facing Kentucky public defenders (pdf, 28 Kb)
Free Online Training: Eyewitness IdentificationThrough NLADA's partnership with the Practising Law Institute (PLI), NLADA has taken the first step towards making training to the defender community available online. |