Thousands of court-appointed attorneys are working without pay after a federal program funding criminal defense ran out of money.
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The federal program that pays court-appointed private attorneys who represent criminal defendants has run out of money, leaving thousands of attorneys across the country working without pay and potentially leaving defendants without representation.
The program, which falls under the Criminal Justice Act (CJA), exhausted its funding on July 3. Since then, attorneys who serve on CJA panels, like Renae Alt-Summers in South Carolina, say they haven’t received any compensation for their work.
“We haven’t been paid and we won’t be paid again until the next fiscal year starts if there is enough money in the budget to pay us then,” Alt-Summers said.
These CJA panel attorneys are private defense lawyers who agree to represent defendants in federal cases. According to Alt-Summers, the vast majority of federal defendants rely on these services.
“Most people who are charged with a federal crime cannot afford to hire a private attorney, so their cases either go to the federal public defender or to attorneys on the CJA panel like myself. Nationwide, 90% of all defendants go either to the federal defender or CJA nationwide,” she said.
Despite the funding shortfall, attorneys continue to take on cases — but they’re doing so with no clear timeline for payment.
“Everything we are being told is to continue to bill as normal, um, and the judges are continuing to sign off on those bills and they will be put into a queue to be paid when there is money again. However, the money comes from Congress,” Alt-Summers said.
The Defender Services Program, part of the judicial branch and funded by Congress, is responsible for compensating these attorneys. In a recent letter sent to South Carolina’s CJA panel, the U.S. District Court of South Carolina acknowledged the ongoing budget crisis.
“While the Judiciary is pursuing supplemental funding for FY 2025, I cannot say whether this is likely to happen. If this is not successful, it is critically important that Congress fully fund the Judiciary’s budget request for FY 2026, including funds necessary to address the current funding deficit,” the letter stated.
Alt-Summers said the issue affects around 12,000 CJA attorneys nationwide — and could have a ripple effect on the entire justice system.
“It absolutely impedes our operations because one, it creates delays and it keeps people in jail longer than normal, which obviously drives up the cost not only for the courts but also for taxpayers,” she said. “Any time these cases face any type of delay, it’s going to increase the cost and increase the physical and emotional toll on our clients and their families.”
While Congress has not yet approved emergency or supplemental funding, attorneys like Alt-Summers are urging lawmakers to act soon.
“What we need is either a supplemental budget to address this backlog of payments right now for fiscal year 2025, but we also need to be fully funded for fiscal year 2026,” she said. “Otherwise, the payments that come out for this year will put next year in a deficit already and we’ll be facing this problem again next year.”
The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to legal counsel. The Judicial branch has asked Congress for $116 million to help with the funding.
