Case and expert details
Date, case name, case number, expert's name, type of expert and hourly rate.
CJA 28F
Expert Services Summary Budget Worksheet for Non-capital Representations with the Potential for Extraordinary Cost
- Agency
- U.S. Courts
- Revision
- Rev. 10/12
- Fillable fields
- 26
- Pages
- 3
- Official source
- U.S. Courts form page
- Checked
- October 20, 2026
CJA 28F: Expert Services Summary Budget Worksheet for Non-capital Representations
CJA 28F, Expert 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 expert 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: expert hours in eight 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.
What's on CJA 28F
I to III: Records, defendant and defense team
Expert hours for discovery and document review; meetings with the defendant for interviews and testing, including time entering and leaving a detention facility; and meetings with members of the defense team.
IV and V: Witnesses and evidence
Meetings and interviews with witnesses, including members of the defendant's family, and examination of crime scenes and physical evidence, including viewing time, lab time and physical or scientific testing.
VI to VIII: Reports, testimony and the prosecution
Report writing including review of literature; hearing and trial testimony including exhibit preparation and other in-court time; and meetings with prosecuting attorneys, case agents and government experts, including depositions. A grand total of hours follows.
IX and X: Travel and other costs
Travel costs and other miscellaneous costs and expenses, each entered as one amount.
Approved case budget
Expert time (hourly rate and hours), fees approved (hours multiplied by hourly rate), travel costs, other costs and the grand total budget for the expert.
How to fill out CJA 28F
- 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 28E in the U.S. Courts list.
- 2
Fill in the case and expert details
Enter the date, case name, case number, the expert's name, the type of expert and the hourly rate.
- 3
Enter hours by section
Enter estimated expert hours for sections I to VIII. Each section notes what it includes, such as expert travel time, and the form adds them into the grand total hours.
- 4
Add travel and other costs
Enter travel costs in section IX and other miscellaneous costs and expenses in section X.
- 5
Review the totals
The last page multiplies hours by the hourly rate and adds travel and other costs into the grand total budget for the expert.
- 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 28F 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.
Related forms
CJA 28E
Expert Services Detailed Budget Worksheet for Non-capital Representations with the Potential for Extraordinary Cost
149 fields, 8 pages
CJA 28A
Attorney Services Detailed Budget Worksheet for Non-capital Representations with the Potential for Extraordinary Cost
142 fields, 9 pages
CJA 28B
Attorney Services Summary Budget Worksheet for Non-capital Representations with the Potential for Extraordinary Cost
29 fields, 4 pages
CJA 28C
Investigative Services Detailed Budget Worksheet for Non-capital Representations with the Potential for Extraordinary Cost
141 fields, 8 pages
CJA 28D
Investigative Services Summary Budget Worksheet for Non-capital Representations with the Potential for Extraordinary Cost
22 fields, 3 pages
CJA 20
Appointment of and Authority to Pay Court-Appointed Counsel
149 fields, 1 page
Who uses CJA 28F?
CJA 28F 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 28F
Who fills out CJA 28F?
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 may choose to review the summary worksheets for some services and the detailed worksheets for experts and other service providers.
Does expert travel time count as hours?
Sections II to V, VII and VIII each say they include expert travel time. Travel costs in dollars go separately in section IX.
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 28F 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.