How Texas Delivers Counsel — County by County
Texas's indigent-defense system is built one county at a time. The shape of it changes from urban to rural, from a staffed public defender office to a single attorney paid per case. This page lays out the structure and how we track it.
County Lines Define Access to Counsel
Texas doesn't have one public defense system — it has 254 different systems. Unlike states that operate a unified, state-run public defense institution, Texas delegates most of the responsibility and cost of providing legal counsel to indigent defendants to its individual county governments.1 This structure means that the resources, expertise, and commitment to public defense vary from one county to the next.
The Two Primary Models of Public Defense
Counties primarily use one or a combination of two models to meet their constitutional obligation to provide counsel:5
Public Defender Offices (PDOs)
These are 501(c)(3) non-profits or government agencies operating law offices funded by the county and/or state grants.6 They employ full-time staff, including experienced attorneys, investigators, social workers, administrators, and other staff.7 Only a fraction of Texas's 254 counties use this model, often the largest urban ones.8
Appointed Counsel Systems
The majority of Texas counties rely on appointing private attorneys to handle cases for indigent clients.9 These systems operate through lists maintained by the courts or by a more independent Managed Assigned Counsel (MAC) System.10 Appointed counsel structures can vary in how managed it is (may be used together):11
- Ad Hoc / Flat-Fee Contracts: In many smaller, rural counties, an attorney may be paid per case or hourly depending on the charge level of the case.12 Some counties enter into contracts with private attorneys to handle cases in bulk.13
- MAC Systems: These systems introduce some oversight, may pay attorneys per case or hourly, and rely on private lawyers.14
It has been argued that fee-based payment methods can create incentives to quickly close cases rather than provide a thorough defense.15
Map of Texas Indigent Defense Systems
This interactive map lets you examine the differences in public defense systems across the state. Click on any county to review its local defense model, gross per-capita spending, and attorney caseload statistics.
About the Data
The information on this page is derived from two central public sources that monitor Texas's court and defense systems:
- Office of Court Administration (OCA): Provides the volume of criminal case activity in each county, including felony and misdemeanor filings and dispositions.16 OCA mandates that all Texas courts report this case data.17
- Texas Indigent Defense Commission (TIDC): Supplies data on the cost and delivery of indigent defense.18 This includes county expenditures, attorney payment rates, and caseload statistics, collected through annual county reports required by the Commission.19