Criminal Justice Act (CJA)

The Criminal Justice Act Panel is a group of qualified and court-approved attorneys who are eligible for appointment by the Court to represent individuals in criminal cases who are unable for financial reasons to retain counsel. The appointments are made by the Court on a rotating basis among members of the panel.

All applicants must have their principal place of business within the appropriate venue of the Northern District of California. For the San Jose venue, this includes the counties of Monterey, San Benito, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz. For San Francisco/Oakland, this includes the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Sonoma.

All CJA Panel attorneys are expected to remain current with developments in federal criminal defense law, practice, and procedure, including electronic discovery techniques.

All CJA panel attorneys must have the facilities, resources, and technological capability to effectively and efficiently manage assigned cases, including the availability of office space to meet with clients and the technological resources to receive, review, organize, and otherwise manage electronic discovery and records.

There are four panels in the district: a Tier One Trial Panel, a Tier Two Trial Panel, an Appellate Panel, and a Eureka Panel.

See General Order 2, Section XI.

Submission and Payment of Vouchers

All invoices shall be submitted through the eVoucher system.

• Interim vouchers are approved in all cases.
• Attorneys may submit vouchers every 60 days so long as the total amount of the voucher exceeds $1,400.
• All Service Providers except investigators, paralegals, and discovery coordinators, shall send their completed invoice along with a Certificate of Service form to the attorney.
• Investigators, paralegals and discovery coordinators shall enter their own time into eVoucher The voucher is then automitically submitted to the attorney in the eVoucher system .
• The attorney approves the voucher and submits it in eVoucher to the C JA Unit for processing.

Reimbursable Expenses

• Receipts are required for expenses over $50. Receipts are always required for outside copying, travel expenses, ride-sharing and taxis over $25, messenger services (which are strongly disfavored unless necessary), and postage of $50/mailing (organize receipts by the date incurred). Receipts should be uploaded under the “documents” tab in eVoucher.
• Case-related travel in a privately-owned automobile should be claimed at the rate currently authorized for federal judiciary employees who use an automobile to conduct official business . You may also be reimbursed for parking fees, transit fares, and bridge/road/tunnel tolls.
• All overnight travel and all travel by airplane must have advance approval by the CJA Supervising Attorney. To request prior authroization, please use the travel request form and organize the expenses and receipts by date incurred.
• Domestic and foreign travel expense reimbursement for meals and lodging is limited to the government per diem rates (www.gsa.gov …). Other expenses, such as taxi fares and rental car charges are not included in the per diem rate and may be claimed separately if receipts are provided. First class airfare is prohibited.
• For authorized travel, please contact National Travel Service (NTS), which will facilitate direct billing to the government of the authorized airfare. NTS may be contacted at (800) 445-0668 to obtain travel quotes.
• General office overhead, such as rent, secretarial help, preparation of CJA vouchers, and telephone service, are not reimbursable expenses, nor are items of a personal nature.

Use the Correct Form

Attorney services should be claimed on CJA Form 20 for all non-capital cases. CJA 30 is used in all capital and capital habeas cases.  

Service provider compensation should be claimed on CJA Form 21 (or CJA 31 for capital habeas petitioners and death-eligible defendants). Requests for service provider funds can be downloaded from the CJA forms page. For additional information on funding and billing for experts, please review Information for Experts and Other Service Providers.

One Voucher Per Attorney

A separate voucher is required for each attorney.

Do Not Bill For Services Performed Before the Appointment Date

If services were performed before the appointment date, you will need to submit a request for nunc pro tunc authorization.

Insure the Correct Authorizations Have Been Obtained Prior to Performing the Work

• If your services exceed the statutory maximum, you will need to create and submit a CJA26 ineVoucher requesting additional funds.
• Per GO50, authorizations for interpreters, investigators, and paralegal are craeated in every case up to the current statutory maximum for service providers.
• If you require the services of an expert, you must obtain prior authorization.

Provide Document/Record Review Quantification

Please indicate Bates ranges or number of pages, type of documents reviewed for document review that exceed one hour.

Provide Sufficient Detail and Do Not “Bundle” Tasks

Please separate work for each date into discrete tasks with detail sufficient to permit meaningful review. If, on one day, you worked two hours on research/writing, three hours on reviewing discovery, half an hour on phone calls, and one hour writing correspondence, there should be four separate entries for that day, with each task corresponding to its appropriate category.

Include Any Necessary Expense Receipts

In general, you must submit receipts for all expenses that exceed $50. Itemized receipts are always required for the following expenses:

• Any individual item costing more than $25.00.
• Outside copying, regardless of amount.
• Travel expenses such as lodging, meals, car rental. Note: Funding authorizations cover expenses for the authorized traveler ONLY; unless expressly authorized, expenditures for the defendant or a witness are NOT covered.
• Premium delivery and messenger services such as Federal Express, UPS, etc.
• Airport and/or regular parking fees, ferries, shuttles, and toll fees over $25.00.
• Taxi and ride-sharing regardless of amount.
• Postage over $50.00 per incident.

How do I reset my eVoucher password?

Click “Reset,” type in the new password twice, then click “Reset” again.

What does “document pending approval” mean?

This means your voucher has been submitted and is currently under review by the court. No action is needed unless you’re contacted.

Who do I contact if I can't log in?

Email cja@cand.uscourts.gov or call (415) 555-1234 for help with account access.

I am using eVoucher in another court. Do I really need another account?

All federal district courts use eVoucher . However, although each court’s eVoucher looks exactly the same from the attorney’s perspective, they link to separate databases with separate logins. If you have an eVoucher account in another district, please contact the CJA Unit for instructions as to how to link the accounts.

Why has a submitted voucher reappeared in My Active Vouchers screen?

The voucher has been retruend to you by the CJA court staff, with the reason provided in the Public Notes section of the Confirmation page and also sent in an email to you.

Attorney Rates
Non-Capital Habeas Cases
(Misdemeanor, Felony, and Habeas Representation)

Associate and Assistant Counsel Rates
Non-Capital Habeas Cases

Associate and assistant counsel are to be compensated at the rate from $90.00 per hour up to $137.00 per hour depending on experience in criminal defense practice. The maximum rate for associate counsel is the salaried hourly rate plus employer paid basic benefits.  All associate counsel that are current  members of the CJA Panel shall be compensated at the CJA Attorney Rate.

Lead Attorney Rates
Capital Habeas Cases

Other Attorney Rates
Capital Habeas Cases

Attorney fees cannot exceed the following case compensation maximums without prior authorization:

Work Performed On or After January 1, 2025

Worked Performed On or After January 1, 2024

Work Performed On or After January 1, 2023

If you anticipate exceeding the statutory maximum for a case, you must submit through eVoucher a CJA-26 (request for authorization). eVoucher will require you to include a justification for raising the case maximum. Requests must be approved by both the CJA Supervising Attorney and the Ninth Circuit.

Maximum per service provider without prior Ninth Circuit approval: $3,000 per engagement.
You must submit a Funding Request for any and reasonably necessary; higher rates may be approved with proper justification.

NOTE:  The United States Marshals Service — not CJA — is responsible for costs associated with the transportation of fact witnesses and defendants. Please see The Public Defender’s Handbook (USMarshals.gov) for more information.

Important! Approval must be obtained prior to travel.

• Download and fill in the CJA Travel Request & Authorization (.pdf).
• Contact National Travel (NT) at 1-800-445-0668, 24/7, to reserve your airline ticket at the government rate. National Travel will give you the cost that you should fill in on the CJA Travel Request & Authorization (.pdf) under Airline Fare. If National Travel is not used to obtain your airline ticket, reimbursement is limited to the authorized government rate.
• You can also obtain car rental reservations through National Travel. They will give you the cost to fill in on the CJA Travel Request & Authorization (.pdf) under Rental Car/Daily Rate.
• To obtain the per diem rate for a certain destination for daily lodging and meals, please visit the U.S. General Services Administration website (www.gsa.gov …). Click on the map for your travel destination. (If neither the city nor the county is listed on the per diem listing, it is considered a standard CONUS destination and the daily per diem rate will be $99.00.) The per diem rate should be filled in on the Travel Request and Order form under Per Diem Rate for Destination along with the number of days.
• Complete the CJA Travel Request & Authorization (.pdf) with all other information and fax it to the CJA Unit for processing to obtain approval. Our fax number is 415-522-4086.

or

• E-mail the completed CJA Travel Request & Authorization (.pdf). to CJA@cand.uscourts.gov.
• Once the CJA Travel Request & Authorization (.pdf) has been approved, the CJA Unit will e-mail the order and additional information to the CJA Attorney. The CJA Unit will also e-mail the approved order to National Travel. Once you receive the approved order, you should promptly contact National Travel to finalize your travel arrangements.
• For foreign travel rates, contact the CJA Unit for assistance.
• Judiciary Staff Travel Regulations (USCourts.gov)

Subpoenas

The United States Marshal Service serves all fact witness subpoenas. The CJA expressly prohibits reimbursing costs for service of a subpoena except in very limited circumstances.

Witness Fees

Fact witnesses are eligible for a standard attendance fee, plus transportation reimbursement. A witness may only receive one fee per day, regardless of the number of cases. Counsel shall submit the proper forms to the United States Marshal Service for reimbursement and fees.

Travel Expenses

Travel costs for fact witnesses—airfare, mileage, lodging, and meals—must follow the GSA per diem guidelines and are paid for by the United States Marshal Service. Receipts are required. Counsel should consult the CJA Unit for estimated costs and necessary approvals before travel is arranged.

Documentation

All reimbursement requests must include:

• Receipts for expenses (if applicable)
• A description of the witness’s role
• A justification for the expense

For additional information on payment of witness fees and reimbursement of witness travel expenses for witness travel details and forms, visit the U.S. Marshals Service website or contact:

Budgets are required in cases that exceed 300 attorney hours and in all Capital cases. Court approval of the hours is required.

Submit a proposed budget that includes:

• Anticipated attorney, expert and investigation needs
• Hourly rates and estimated hours
• A timeline of major case milestones

The total cost of services obtained without prior authorization may not exceed $1,000 and expenses reasonably incurred (see also CJA Guidelines § 310.20.30). Once the $1,000 limitation has been met by any one or combination of service providers, prior authorization must be obtained from the court.

It is mandatory for all Funding Requests to be submitted by completing an interactive CJA Funding Request Form (.docx) and emailing it to the CJA Unit.

1. Fill out the form completely, including a detailed statement of the reason the funds are requested.
2. Do not forget to SIGN your name and date on the last page of the form.  The requirement of a “wet” signature is suspended per General Order 78. Please use an electronic signature.  
3. If the funds are requested nunc pro tunc, good cause is required. Please remember to fill out that portion of the form.
4. Save the form as a PDF. Please use the following naming convention for the request: FR_case number-judge’s initials.defendant.pdf, e.g. FR_12-234-AB_Weiss.pdf.
5. Include the file name in the email subject line.
6. Email to: cja@cand.uscourts.gov.

Once the request has been reviewed and either approved, modified or denied, counsel will be served via email with the Authorization Order.

If funds are approved, the CJA Unit will create an Authorization in eVoucher under the case appointment for that particular expert or service provider. You can now use these funds to compensate your expert service providers.