The counties were located in five States and operated a variety of systems, including a contract defense system, a coordinated assigned counsel system, a mixed ad hoc assigned counsel approach, and a part-time defender system. Data came from site visits and detailed analyses of costs and dockets in 6 sites; interviews in 12 counties; and computer analysis of 2,400 court cases. The analysis covered the cost implications of using private counsel in various systems, the relationship between cost and quality of service, attorney performance in defense systems using private counsel, and the processing of cases in these systems. The systems in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties, Calif., were found to be exemplary systems. The first of these handled all indigent defense representation, while the other handled only the cases that could not be handled by the local full-time defender office. Data tables and profiles of the two model systems and eight other systems are included. For an executive summary and detailed analyses of results, see NCJ 98678-79 and 98681.