Texas Indigent Defense Commission announces Improvement Grant 2025

The Texas Indigent Defense Commission (TIDC) has issued the 2025 Improvement Grant Request for Applications (RFA) for programs that improve indigent defense services in Texas. Donor Name: Texas Indigent Defense Commission (TIDC) State: Texas County: All Counties Type of Grant: Grant Deadline: 05/10/2024 Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000 Grant Duration: 1 Year Details: Improvement Grants help counties develop new programs or processes to improve indigent defense. Improvement Grants are competitive, dependent on available funding, and usually require county matching funds. Priority Program Areas Applications for the following program types shall be given funding priority: Managed indigent defense programs structured to ensure quality representation. This includes, but is not limited to, managed assigned counsel and public defender programs. Specialized indigent defense programs representing clients with mental health challenges. Regional indigent defense services. Programs that serve rural areas. Programs that measure the quality of representation for indigent defendants. Indigent defense process management software systems supporting compliance with indigent defense laws. Other programs that implement cost containment initiatives designed to limit local indigent defense cost increases or reduce county operating costs with respect to indigent defense. Improvement Grant Categories Multi-Year Improvement Grants Funding for programs providing indigent defense representation, including public defender offices, managed assigned counsel programs, and indigent defense coordinator programs. Provides funding over four years. Requires a cash match. Grants typically reimburse up to 80% of total approved project costs for the first year; 60% for the second year; 40% for the third year; and 20% for the fourth year. Awards for multi-year grants are made each fiscal year, with funding of eligible expenses provided on a reimbursement basis. Grantees will be required to submit a brief Continued Multi-Year Improvement Grant application form and submit a new Improvement Grant Resolution for continued funding for each subsequent year of eligibility. Minimum $50,000 project budget per application. Rural Regional Public Defender Sustainability Grants Regional programs must cover three or more counties. Counties with populations less than 100,000 are eligible. (Counties that exceed this threshold may request a variance based on special considerations.) Provides reimbursement of 80% of approved program costs in the initial year, transitioning to ongoing sustainability funding covering 2/3 of eligible costs in subsequent years. May be operated directly by counties or contracted to eligible nonprofit public defender organizations. Single-Year Improvement Grants Funding for indigent defense process improvement projects including technology projects. These projects require a cash match as detailed in Section II below. Minimum program budget of $5,000 per application. Routine equipment replacements or upgrades are not eligible. Technical Support Grants Special projects including indigent defense research, program assessments, or pilot projects that build the knowledge base about indigent defense and test processes that can be applied in other counties. All technical support projects require a project paper that describes the implementation, the benefits the county may have received, a brief commentary from participants, and a brief discussion on implications or suggestions for other similar projects. Continued Multi-Year Improvement Grants Counties with current Multi-Year Improvement Grant awards and Rural Regional Public Defender Sustainability Grants must submit a brief online Continued Multi-Year Improvement Grant form for each subsequent year of eligible funding. A new Commissioners Court or governing board resolution must be submitted with the application each year. Requests for scope changes, amendments or budget adjustments may be submitted with Continued Multi-Year applications. Funding Priorities  Funding priorities include the following: New public defender offices. New managed assigned counsel systems. Mental health, juvenile, or other specialty defender offices. Indigent defense coordinators. Grant Period Period for Funding and Program Operation: October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025. Eligibility Criteria  The following entities are eligible for Improvement Grants: Texas counties. Counties may apply jointly for funding but must designate one county as the grant recipient. A law school’s legal clinic or program that provides indigent defense services for Texas counties as described in Section 79.037, Texas Gov’t Code. A regional public defender formed under Article 26.044, Code of Criminal Procedure that provides indigent defense services for Texas counties and meets the requirements of Texas Gov’t Code Section 79.037. An entity described by Section 791.013, Texas Gov’t Code that provides to a county administrative services under an interlocal contract entered for the purpose of providing or improving the provision of indigent defense services in the county. A nonprofit corporation that provides indigent defense services or indigent defense support services in a county. Nonprofit applicants must document support from and coordination with the county or counties and courts served. Nonprofit applications should contact TIDC staff early in the application process to provide online grant application account setup and for guidance on documentation of county support and coordination. For more information, visit TIDC.