The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the accused the right to be represented by counsel in serious criminal prosecutions. In Johnson v. Zerbst, the Supreme Court expanded the Sixth Amendment right to counsel to indigent defendants in all federal criminal trials. This right was expanded to indigent defendant in state courts following the Supreme Court’s decision in Gideon v. Wainwright.
On August 20, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Criminal Justice Act (CJA), which for the first time assured professional legal counsel in federal courts by paying an hourly fee for court appointed lawyers. Six years later, Congress established a full-time federal defender service within the judicial branch. Together, the measures created the modern federal defender system, and helped secure a right that Americans now take for granted: meaningful legal representation even for those who cannot afford it.
The Federal Public Defenders Office for the Northern District of Texas was established in 1990. The Northern District of Texas is comprised of 7 federal divisions including Dallas, Fort Worth, Lubbock Amarillo, Wichita Falls, Lubbock and San Angelo. The Defender Office maintains 4 staffed offices in Dallas, Fort Worth, Lubbock, and Amarillo, but travels to the remaining three divisions to represent clients.
Ira Kirkendoll was appointed as the first Federal Public Defender for the Northern District of Texas. During his tenure the main office in Dallas was established along with branch offices in Fort Worth, Lubbock, and Amarillo. He was the Federal Defender for 16 years until he retired in 2006.
Richard Anderson was appointed as the second Federal Public Defender in 2006. Before he retired in 2013, he expanded the office to 18 Assistant Federal Public Defenders and 23 support personnel including investigators, paralegals, legal assistants, IT personnel, and administrative staff.
Jason Hawkins was appointed as the Federal Public Defender in August 2013. Mr. Hawkins started in the office as a Research and Writing Attorney in 2001 and was converted to an Assistant Federal Public Defender in the trial section.Richard Anderson made him supervisor of the appellate section in 2007 and later named him First Assistant in 2009.
During his tenure Mr. Hawkins has expanded the office to 41 Assistant Federal Public Defenders in the trial and appellate unit. He also increased the size of the support staff to 34 which are the backbone of the office. This expansion has required the acquisition of larger offices in Dallas, Fort Worth, Lubbock, and Amarillo.
In 2017 he established one of the first of two Capital Habeas Units (CHU) in Texas. The CHU represents people on Texas’s death row in federal post-conviction proceedings.The CHU started with 3 AFPDS and 4 support staff. But since it was established Mr. Hawkins expanded the CHU to 10 AFPDs and 10 support staff consisting of fact and mitigation investigators, paralegals, IT personnel, and an administrative assistant.
The office represents clients at all stages of federal proceedings beginning in the federal magistrate court, to the federal district court, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and finally the Supreme Court of the United States. The office has appeared seven times before the Supreme Court of the United including Almendarez-Torres v. United States, Jones v. United States, Cuellar v. United States, Davis v. United States, Setser v. United States, Davis v. United States, and most recently Rahimi v. United States. The office has also secured numerous victories at the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
The trial section consists of incredibly talented trial attorneys throughout the district. Some of their many notable trial victories include United States v. Tanner which was the first federal criminal jury trial to take place during the COVID pandemic on June 1, 2020, and our client was acquitted.
Our fact and mitigation investigators have many years of experience in both state and federal law enforcement and in the private sector.The office employs a computer forensic specialist and the investigators receive constant training to stay current in forensic analysis across a variety of fields. They do the "legwork" to help review evidence and to develop our own evidence in cases.
Our paralegals and legal assistants are crucial to the operation of the office and they provide trial, appellate and post-conviction support to the attorneys and investigators, and also the families and friends of our clients.
Our IT staff is unmatched and they make certain the office is up on the latest technologies to receive the best result for our clients. In 2019 they created the first discovery server in the Federal Public Defender system to deal with cases involving multiple terabytes of e-discovery.
Finally our administrative staff monitors the budget and makes certain the office has the necessary financial resources to ensure that all of clients receive the highest quality representation.