Eligibility Examiner, The Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia

>> My name is Kanethea [phonetic spelling] Austin and I am an eligibility examiner at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. An eligibility examiner is one who interviews defendants who have been charged with a crime in the District of Columbia and we interview them in the U.S. Marshal cell block, in the courtroom, or either in our office to determine their financial eligibility for legal representation. So we interview defendants and we ask them a series of questions. And those questions are determined upon the labor department and their financial situation. And also the violation of their crime is based upon an amount. And then based upon their family size and their employment, whether they're employed or not, determines how much they would have to pay for an attorney, or if in fact that fee is waived and the government pays that fee. So typically our office staff, we, the defendants are divided up daily depending upon how many total are in the U.S. Marshall cell block. So we may see anywhere from fifteen to 35 defendants per day that we interview. So on a daily basis when I'm interviewing the defendants it can be very emotional. It can be sometimes scary because although the individual has been charged with a crime, I'm still tasked with treating them as though they have not been convicted as of yet. Yeah. So my standard hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and then we also open on Saturdays. And we also open every holiday including Christmas. So with arraignment court, by law, a defendant is required to be before a judge within 72 hours of their arrest.