U.S. District Court updates criminal representation plan Monday, May 1, 2023

U.S. District Court News Release

The United States District Court for the District of North Dakota updated its Plan for the Adequate Representation of Defendants Under the Criminal Justice Act of 1964, as Amended (CJA Plan), effective May 1, 2023.

The updated plan incorporates recent changes to the Guide to Judiciary Policy and adopts recommendations from the Ad Hoc Committee to Review the Criminal Justice Act Program (Cardone Committee).

The CJA Plan can be found on the Court’s Website: https://www.ndd.uscourts.gov/cja/CJA_Plan.pdf

Substantive changes include:

• Adding a compliance section

• Changing the responsibilities of the CJA Panel Selection Committee

• Modifying CLE requirements

• Modifying the process for removing an attorney from the CJA Panel

• Adding a process for providing attorneys notice and an opportunity to be heard if a voucher reduction is contemplated for reasons other than mathematical corrections

• Moving all information regarding capital cases to a new appendix

The Court extends its gratitude to Federal Public Defender, Jason Tupman, and CJA Panel Representative, Mark Friese, for their assistance and advocacy in the development of the updated CJA Plan.