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Report of the Commission on Indigent Defense Services
2. The IDS Commission and IDS Office should develop and offer comprehensive training
programs for juvenile defense attorneys. This recommendation does not require legislative
action, and the IDS Commission and IDS Office intend to implement it as soon as possible.
INTRODUCTION & SUMMARY OF ABA REPORT
During the Spring of 2003, the American Bar Association (“ABA”) Juvenile Justice Center,
National Juvenile Defender Center, Southern Juvenile Defender Center, and North Carolina
Office of Indigent Defense Services (“IDS Office”) collaborated to conduct a study of the legal
services afforded to juveniles facing delinquency proceedings in North Carolina. The goal of
this project was to assess the existing legal services available for North Carolina’s youth, both in
terms of the accessibility of defense counsel and the quality of representation, and to develop
recommendations for improving those services where needed. The ABA Juvenile Justice Center
has completed similar assessments in a number of other states, including Arkansas, Georgia,
Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia,
and Washington.
Eleven North Carolina counties were selected for intensive assessment based on a variety of
factors, including service delivery methods, the number and types of juvenile cases, and
population and economic demographics. During February and March of 2003, teams of state and
national experts visited those counties, observed juvenile court, and interviewed judges, defense
attorneys, prosecutors, juvenile clerks, court counselors, and youth. To gather information about
the remaining 88 North Carolina counties, as well as additional perspectives in the counties
visited, surveys were mailed to 246 district court judges, all 39 chief court counselors, all public
defender offices handling juvenile cases, and more than 200 private juvenile defense attorneys
throughout the state. Completed questionnaires were received from 30 judges, 16 chief court
counselors, and 26 public and private defense attorneys.
In October 2003, the ABA released its report, which identified a number of deficiencies in
North Carolina’s current system. Some of the key findings in the report include:
• Juveniles consistently have representation, but not at sufficiently early stages of their
cases, so they are interrogated and often held in custody without seeing a lawyer.
• The quality of juvenile defense is very uneven across the State, with some juveniles
receiving excellent representation and others receiving seriously deficient representation.
• There are no statewide accountability or practice standards, and insufficient training
opportunities for juvenile defense attorneys.
• Juvenile defense attorneys inadequately prepare their cases, in large part because they
have little or no access to investigators and other support services.
• Too many attorneys have insufficient contact with their young clients. 89% of attorneys
surveyed reported meeting their clients for the first time at the courthouse on the day of a
hearing.
• Juvenile defense attorneys rarely file pre-adjudication motions, including competency
motions.