CJA 28D

Investigative Services Summary Budget Worksheet for Non-capital Representations with the Potential for Extraordinary Cost

Agency
U.S. Courts
Revision
Rev. 10/12
Fillable fields
22
Pages
3
Official source
U.S. Courts form page
Checked
October 20, 2026
Fill CJA 28D online
Page 1 of form CJA 28D

CJA 28D: Investigative Services Summary Budget Worksheet for Non-capital Representations

CJA 28D, Investigative Services Summary Budget Worksheet for Non-capital Representations with the Potential for Extraordinary Cost, is a Criminal Justice Act (CJA) case budgeting form from the U.S. Courts. The U.S. Courts list it under Budgeting Worksheets. The PDF is dated Rev. 10/12, and the page lists it as effective on October 1, 2012.

The form says it summarizes anticipated investigative services and should be submitted to the court in representations that "appear likely to become or have become extraordinary in terms of potential cost" as set forth in section 230.26.10 of the Guidelines for Administering the CJA and Related Statutes, Volume 7A, Guide to Judiciary Policy. It has three pages: investigator hours in five sections, travel and other costs, and an approved case budget. The explanatory memorandum the U.S. Courts page links as the form instructions says the AO developed CJA Forms 28A to 28H, with a detailed and a summary worksheet for each of four types of services: attorney, investigator, expert and "other".

This page explains the form in plain words and is not legal advice. It can be filled out free in the browser on this page and downloaded without an account.

Top of page 1 of CJA 28D: Investigative Services Summary Budget Worksheet for Non-capital Representations, as printed by COURTS

What's on CJA 28D

Case details

Date, case name, case number, name of investigator and hourly rate.

I to III: Review, investigation and defense meetings

Investigator hours for discovery and document review, including documents and information generated by the defense investigation; investigation and witness interviews, including travel and interview time; and meetings with defense attorneys, the client and expert witnesses.

IV and V: Other meetings and court time

Hours for other meetings, including travel and meeting time with prosecutors and case agents, and for court time, including travel, testifying and assisting counsel at trial and hearings. A grand total of hours follows.

VI: Travel costs

Travel costs, with a Note to Court that if extensive out-of-district investigator travel is anticipated, the court may wish to require a more detailed travel budget and decide whether to issue "blanket" travel authorization or approve travel "seriatim."

VII: Other costs

Other miscellaneous costs and expenses, entered as one amount.

Approved case budget

Page 3 shows investigator time (hourly rate and hours), fees approved (hours multiplied by hourly rate), travel costs, other costs and the grand total budget for the investigator.

How to fill out CJA 28D

  1. 1

    Start from the detailed worksheet

    The form says the accompanying detailed budget worksheet may be of assistance to counsel in preparing the summary. For this service type it is CJA 28C in the U.S. Courts list.

  2. 2

    Fill in the case details

    Enter the date, case name, case number, the investigator's name and the hourly rate at the top of page 1.

  3. 3

    Enter hours by section

    Enter estimated investigator hours for sections I to V. The form totals them into the grand total hours.

  4. 4

    Add travel and other costs

    Enter travel costs in section VI and other miscellaneous costs and expenses in section VII.

  5. 5

    Review the totals

    Page 3 multiplies hours by the hourly rate and adds travel and other costs into the grand total budget for the investigator.

  6. 6

    Print or save

    The PDF has Print, Save As and Reset buttons at the end. The form has no signature line.

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Where it goes, approval and fees

Where it goes

The form says it should be submitted to the court. The memorandum says that in some cases the court may review summary worksheets for some services and detailed worksheets for others.

Approval

The memorandum recommends that the presiding judicial officer send a case budget to the chief judge of the court of appeals (or his or her delegate) for approval.

When case budgets are used

The memorandum says the Judicial Conference adopted a CJA guideline in September 2003 encouraging courts to use case budgeting where the defense of an individual CJA defendant is anticipated to cost in excess of $30,000 or involve more than 300 hours of attorney time.

Fees

CJA 28D does not print a filing fee, an hourly rate or a mileage rate. The rates, hours and costs are entered on the worksheet, which totals them.

Changes and help

The memorandum says case budgets should not be viewed as etched in stone and may be modified as the case progresses. It says judges reviewing a budget may contact the ODS Legal and Policy Branch Duty Attorney, and that the Ninth Circuit Excel worksheets can be obtained from the ODS Legal and Policy Duty Attorney at 202-502-3030.

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Who uses CJA 28D?

  • Appointed counsel

    The explanatory memorandum says both the detailed and the summary worksheets for each service provider would be completed by appointed counsel in preparing the case budget. The form says the accompanying detailed budget worksheet may be of assistance to counsel in preparing the summary.

  • The investigator

    The form names the investigator and the hourly rate and counts investigator hours. The memorandum says that in some instances the work of several providers of the same type of service could be combined on one form.

  • The court

    The form says it should be submitted to the court. Section VI carries a Note to Court about investigator travel, and the memorandum says the court could choose whether to review the detailed worksheets or the summary worksheets alone.

  • The chief judge of the court of appeals

    The memorandum recommends that the presiding judicial officer send a case budget to the chief judge of the court of appeals (or his or her delegate) for approval.

CJA 28D is prepared by CJA appointed counsel for the court, not filed by the public. The form and its memorandum name these roles.

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Questions about Form CJA 28D

Who fills out CJA 28D?

The explanatory memorandum says both the detailed and the summary worksheets for each service provider would be completed by appointed counsel in preparing the case budget. It is not a form the public files, and it has no signature line.

Is the detailed worksheet needed too?

The form says the accompanying detailed budget worksheet may be of assistance to counsel in preparing the summary. The memorandum says the court could choose whether to review the detailed worksheets or the summary worksheets alone.

What does the Note to Court in section VI say?

It says that if extensive out-of-district investigator travel is anticipated, the court may wish to require a more detailed travel budget, and should determine whether it will issue "blanket" travel authorization for all specified and budgeted trips or approve investigator travel "seriatim."

When is a case budget used?

The memorandum says the CJA guideline encourages case budgeting where the defense of an individual CJA defendant is anticipated to cost in excess of $30,000 or involve more than 300 hours of attorney time, and that counsel may initiate a case budget or the court may request one on its own initiative. This page cannot say whether a case meets that threshold.

Can the budget change later?

The memorandum says case budgets should not be viewed as etched in stone and may be modified as the case progresses. If a foundation of the budget dramatically shifts, it says the court should have counsel modify the case budget and seek approval for any additional funds and resources.

Does CJA 28D do the math?

Yes. The form says it automatically totals hours and dollar amounts, and the last page multiplies hours by the hourly rate to show the fees approved.