Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
581279427
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023, Form 990-EZ 2009
Location
Decatur, GA, USA
Phone
4042481777
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$509,707
Expenses
$507,686
Assets
$1,097,374
Liabilities
$6,476

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

90 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • MAZIE LYNN GUERTIN (Executive Dir.): $146,260 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To promote fairness and justice through membership, education, services and support, public outreach, and a commitment to quality representation for all.

What it reported doing in 2023

Membership, Generally: The following are included with membership in service and support of the GACDL community, particularly, and larger criminal legal system, more broadly: - Regular issues of a case law publication Whats the Decision? that highlights recent cases of import to or impact on the criminal legal system - Access to the GACDL Listserve where more than 1,000 members exchange practice, procedure, and general support for their litigation efforts, - Members-Only, website section that provides access to resources including template court pleadings, historical seminar materials, pattern jury charges, and expert witness contact information. - Networking with more than 1,200 other members, with a practice focus that includes free, temporary, emergency legal assistance for members who face punishment from the court as a result of their representation of a person facing prosecution in Georgia. - Committees through which members can formulate and express their positions on legislation, judicial appointments, amicus curiae briefs, and other matters affecting the administration of Georgias criminal legal system.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 94% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 48
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.9%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 83.9%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.4%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.16; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 28.8%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.8% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.9% of revenue deployed · 83.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 89 of 89 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $426K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $146K · 90 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2011 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 39/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.