National Criminal Defense College Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 592506611
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2017–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2009
- Location
- Macon, GA, USA
- Phone
- 4787464151
- Rating
- 69
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,080,554
- Expenses
- $948,366
- Assets
- $1,156,947
- Liabilities
- $152,947
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
15 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- KAREN SMOLAR (DEAN): $57,500 total reported compensation
- NATASHA PERDEW SILAS (FORMER DEAN): $25,000 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Pursuing justice by delivering the highest standard of trial skills training, through a diverse faculty, to criminal defense attorneys across the United States to ensure that people accused of crimes are represented by client-centered, trial-focused, and zealous counsel.Pursuing justice by preparing defense counsel to recognize and confront racism and bias in the criminal legal system.Pursuing justice by inspiring and empowering a diverse community of criminal defense attorneys to transform the criminal legal system to ensure due process of law, effective assistance of counsel, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, and equal protection of law for all people.
What it reported doing in 2024
January 2025 Forensics Cross-Examination ProgramTaught 56 attorneys how to conduct effective Cross Examination with forensic expertsMarch 2025 Cross- Examination WorkshopTaught 56 Attorneys how to conduct effective Cross- Examination.June 2025 and July 2025 Trial Practice InstituteTaught 254 criminal defense practitioners how to conduct trials from beginning to end.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 89% 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.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 71
- Transparency & Controls: 60
- Accountability: 74
- Sustainability: 54
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 76.7%; rating input score 77
- Program expense ratio: 85.4%; rating input score 85
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Missing
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 38
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Limited
- 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: 12.2%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.22; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 8.7%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 15.4% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 76.7% of revenue deployed · 85.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $810K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $58K · 15 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 7 filing years from 2017 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 49/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 41/100.