National Association for Public Defense

NAPD is an association of public defense professionals (lawyers, criminal investigators, social workers, sentencing advocates, paralegals and administrative professionals) focused exclusively on the training and support of defenders. Through its education programs, NAPD helps advocates improve their trial skills, communication, team-building and focus on specific initiatives. Through its Leadership Institutes, NAPD supports current leaders and cultivates the next generation of public defender leaders. Through listservs, online meet-ups, and strategic staffing, NAPD supports public defense member communities to share information and lend case-based support. Through its public defense library, MyGideon, thousands of resources are archived for public defense professionals for immediate access. Through its active committee work, public defenders are engaged to advance reform in the areas that matter most to them and their clients: amicus work, workload advocacy, education, systems building, reforming the practice of fines/fees/cash bond, ensuring specialized resources for juvenile defense, racial justice, IT improvements, ethics, and communications. NAPD believes that public defenders are stronger together and fosters a community committed to raising the quality and creativity of public defense wherever there is the desire to do better.

NAPD was formed in 2013 and presently has 22,000 members – including 25 statewide public defense programs and more than 100 county based programs. It also offers membership to hundreds of individually appointed counsel and contracted public defense professionals. NAPD has members in all 50 states and US Territories, and includes a joint membership option with the National Association of Federal Defenders. We encourage you to read our Foundational Principles here:

https://www.publicdefenders.us/foundationalprinciples