A federal public defender is an attorney who represents people charged with federal crimes through a defender organization authorized under the Criminal Justice Act — the 1964 law behind federal appointed counsel.
Federal public defender organization staff are federal employees; community defender organizations, the other type, are grant-funded nonprofits.
Across both types, 83 authorized federal defender organizations employ about 4,200 lawyers, investigators, paralegals and support staff and serve 92 of the 94 federal judicial districts.
Federal vs state public defenders
The dividing line is the court system the work sits in.
A federal public defender's cases are federal criminal cases in the federal courts — the same 94 judicial districts the defender organizations map onto, 92 of which are served by an authorized organization.
State public defenders practice in state courts, on state charges.
The defense role itself is the parent guide's territory — our public defender guide covers the role's basics, the offices and the caseload research.
This page stays on the federal layer: the organizations, how they hire and pay, and the appointed-counsel system that runs alongside them.
Across the aisle, federal prosecutors carry the government's side of the same federal cases, which makes the two roles a natural career comparison.
Federal public defender vs community defender organizations
Federal defender organizations come in two types, and the difference is the employer.
In a federal public defender organization, the lawyers and staff are federal employees.
A community defender organization is a grant-funded nonprofit that serves the same appointed-counsel function in the districts it covers — federal appointments either way, but the employer is a nonprofit rather than a federal office.
In the federal public defender organizations, the top role is appointed: the chief federal public defender is appointed to a four-year term by the court of appeals of the circuit in which the organization is located, and the lawyers and staff under the chief are federal employees.
The structure has a statutory origin.
The Criminal Justice Act dates to 1964, and 1970 amendments let districts with at least 200 appointments a year set up federal defender organizations.
Today the 83 organizations serve 92 of the 94 districts, which leaves two districts outside that coverage.
Federal public defender hiring and qualifications
Hiring runs organization by organization — the 83 authorized organizations are separate employers, each with its own staff.
Together they employ about 4,200 lawyers, investigators, paralegals and support personnel across the system.
One role is appointed rather than hired: in a federal public defender organization, the chief federal public defender is appointed to a four-year term by the court of appeals of the circuit in which the organization is located.
The attorney roles are the headline, but not the whole staffing model — investigators, paralegals and support personnel are part of these offices too, so the career routes into a defender organization are not attorney-only.
One honest gap: our research verified the system's structure, not any single office's qualification list — the sources this page cites do not state what experience or credentials a particular organization requires.
Treat each organization's own job postings as the authority on a role's requirements, and check them before you apply.
Searching "federal public defender" and "assistant federal defender" against a district or circuit name is the practical way to surface the offices and their openings.
Federal public defender pay, in brief
Federal public defender organization staff are federal employees.
What the sources this page cites verify is that structure, not a salary table — no verified pay figure for federal defender staff appears in them, so this page does not print one.
A specific position's pay is published on the organization's own job announcement, when there is one.
The pay numbers that are public and verified on this topic belong to the CJA panel — private lawyers appointed case by case — and they run on different logic: hourly rates with per-case maximums.
They are the next section.
CJA panel attorneys
Alongside the organizations runs a large appointed private bar.
About 13,000 private CJA panel attorneys take federal appointments each year, and in districts that have a defender organization, panel lawyers typically receive 30–40% of CJA cases.
For a private criminal defense lawyer, panel membership is the federal counterpart of court-appointed work — cases arrive by appointment rather than by retainer.
The pay is hourly.
For work on or after January 1, 2026, CJA panel attorneys are paid $177 per hour in non-capital cases and up to $226 per hour in capital cases — a rate that covers both the lawyer's pay and office overhead, so the full hourly figure does not all go to the lawyer as pay.
Compensation is also capped per case, with waivers possible: in 2026 the maximums are $13,800 for felonies, $3,900 for misdemeanors and $9,800 for appeals, waivable with circuit approval.
CJA rates are dated — confirm before you rely on them
Where to find public defender jobs
Openings surface organization by organization — 83 authorized employers, each employing its own staff — so a search moves one district or circuit at a time.
On LawFirmHires, public defender jobs across employers collect in one live board, with openings appearing as employers post them.
The same listings can suit legal staff candidates, since the organizations employ investigators, paralegals and support personnel alongside lawyers.
Career information, not legal advice. The rates and figures on this page carry their as-of dates (2026 CJA rates). Confirm current rates, case maximums and an office's requirements with the federal courts' Defender Services pages at uscourts.gov and the organization's own postings.