> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Appointed vs. Retained Counsel in Federal Criminal Cases, Year by Year, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-appointed-vs-retained-counsel-by-year/ - Published: 2026-11-03T06:12:42.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-03T06:12:42.000Z - Description: In every fiscal year from 2016 to 2025, appointed counsel represented most federal defendants whose cases ended, between 77% and 84%. Retained counsel represented between 13% and 19%. The appointed share was highest in fiscal year 2025, at 84% of 82,042 defendants, and the retained share was highest - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [Appointed vs. Retained Lawyers in Federal Criminal Cases](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-appointed-vs-retained-counsel-outcomes/) › Counsel by Year **In brief:** In every fiscal year from 2016 to 2025, appointed counsel represented most federal defendants whose cases ended, between 77% and 84%. Retained counsel represented between 13% and 19%. The appointed share was highest in fiscal year 2025, at 84% of 82,042 defendants, and the retained share was highest in fiscal year 2022, at 19%. Updated November 3, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025 This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 753,808 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. The series also draws on the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 659,036 people sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. It is part of the [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/). ## What the Yearly Counts Cover The Federal Judicial Center records every federal defendant whose case ended in a given fiscal year. That includes guilty pleas, dismissals, convictions at trial, and acquittals. Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, the total was 753,808 defendants. A federal fiscal year starts on October 1 and ends the following September. Each defendant is counted once, in the year the case ended, under the type of counsel recorded at the end of the case. Appointed counsel is a federal public or community defender or a CJA panel attorney, a private lawyer appointed by the court and paid under the CJA program. Retained counsel is a private lawyer the defendant hired. These numbers describe groups of cases and say nothing about the quality of any lawyer. ## Appointed Counsel Year by Year The appointed share was 77% in fiscal year 2016 and rose each year through fiscal year 2020\. It was 78% in 2017, 80% in 2018, 82% in 2019, and 83% in 2020. In fiscal year 2021, the share was 80%, and in 2022 it was 78%. Fiscal year 2023 matched 2016 at 77%. The share was 80% again in 2024 and reached 84% in 2025, the highest year in the series. The number of defendants also changed from year to year. The lowest count was 63,725 in fiscal year 2021\. The highest was 85,478 in fiscal year 2019. | Fiscal year | Defendants | Appointed counsel | Retained counsel | Acquitted at trial (appointed) | Acquitted at trial (retained) | | ----------- | ---------- | ----------------- | ---------------- | ------------------------------ | ----------------------------- | | 2016 | 77,318 | 77% | 17% | 14% | 20% | | 2017 | 75,163 | 78% | 17% | 14% | 15% | | 2018 | 79,704 | 80% | 15% | 17% | 16% | | 2019 | 85,478 | 82% | 14% | 15% | 15% | | 2020 | 71,485 | 83% | 13% | 13% | 17% | | 2021 | 63,725 | 80% | 17% | 16% | 22% | | 2022 | 71,954 | 78% | 19% | 17% | 19% | | 2023 | 72,255 | 77% | 18% | 12% | 19% | | 2024 | 74,684 | 80% | 16% | 11% | 16% | | 2025 | 82,042 | 84% | 13% | 12% | 12% | ## Retained Counsel Year by Year Retained counsel moved in the opposite direction in most years. It was 17% in fiscal years 2016 and 2017, then 15% in 2018, 14% in 2019, and 13% in 2020. The retained share was 17% in 2021 and 19% in 2022, the highest year. It was 18% in 2023, 16% in 2024, and 13% in 2025. Appointed and retained shares together do not cover every defendant. Some defendants represented themselves, and for some the type of counsel was not reported. ## Defendants Without a Lawyer Self-represented defendants are a small group in each year. The count was 2,628 in fiscal year 2016 and 2,173 in 2017\. It was 2,169 in 2018 and 1,708 in 2019. The count was lower in the later years: 1,198 in 2020, 819 in 2021, and 980 in 2022\. It was 1,483 in 2023, 1,031 in 2024, and 1,153 in 2025. ## Acquittals at Trial for Each Group Across fiscal years 2016 to 2020, 15% of 6,435 trials with appointed counsel ended in an acquittal. Across fiscal years 2021 to 2025, the rate was 14% of 5,682 trials. The table also gives a yearly acquittal rate at trial for each group. With retained counsel, the rate was higher than with appointed counsel in most years, such as 20% compared with 14% in 2016 and 19% compared with 12% in 2023\. In fiscal year 2018 the appointed rate was higher, 17% compared with 16%. In fiscal years 2019 and 2025 the rates were the same for both groups. These yearly rates rest only on cases that went to trial, a small share of all cases. A rate for one year can move with a modest number of verdicts. Defendants who hire a lawyer, and the charges they face, may differ from those who receive appointed counsel, so a gap in acquittal rates cannot be credited to the type of lawyer. ## Where Courts-Martial Fit This post covers federal court only. At a general or special court-martial, the accused is detailed a military defense counsel at no cost and may also hire a civilian lawyer, so the appointed-or-retained split does not carry over. ## Limits of the Yearly Records The records show the type of counsel at the end of each case, not at its start. A defendant who changed lawyers is counted only under the last one. The records also do not show why the shares changed from one year to the next. They do not show a defendant's ability to pay, the strength of the evidence, or the sentence imposed. The yearly figures describe who represented federal defendants, not how well. ### How We Counted Every federal defendant whose case ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 (753,808), Federal Judicial Center, by type of counsel at the end of the case (TCOUNSEL). Federal fiscal years run from October 1 to September 30\. No person, judge, or lawyer is identified in any of these records. ### What to Keep in Mind **Who is in each set of numbers.** The federal sentencing numbers come from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. They count only people who were convicted and sentenced in federal district court. People whose cases were dismissed or who were acquitted are not in them. The military numbers come from court-martial results, which include acquittals. To compare acquittal or dismissal rates, the federal side uses a different source: the Federal Judicial Center's case data, which counts every defendant whose case ended. **Time periods.** Federal numbers are by federal fiscal year (October 1 to September 30), based on the sentencing date. The military numbers are by trial date. Neither source has the date of the offense, so a change in law shows up in either data set gradually. **Type of counsel describes groups of cases, not lawyers.** The Federal Judicial Center records the type of counsel at the end of the case. Defendants who hire a lawyer differ from defendants who receive an appointed lawyer in their charges, criminal history, and circumstances, and some defendants change lawyers during a case. Differences in outcomes by type of counsel therefore cannot be credited to the type of lawyer. ## Related Analysis - [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article) - [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts) - [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method) - [Appointed vs. Retained Lawyers in Federal Criminal Cases: How Cases Ended, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-appointed-vs-retained-counsel-outcomes/) (overview) - [Federal Trials by Type of Counsel: How Often Each Ended in Acquittal, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-trial-acquittals-by-type-of-counsel/) - [Federal Defendants Who Represented Themselves: How Their Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-self-represented-defendants-outcomes/) - [Civilian Defense Counsel Versus Military Counsel: Can You Hire Your Own Lawyer](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/civilian-versus-military-counsel/?ref=bodiesburied.com) (law firm reference page) - [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source) - [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source) **About the author.** Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts *Where All The Bodies Are Buried* and runs the [Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.