Prosecutor Accountability Project
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 852689531
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2021–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2020
- Location
- Greensboro, NC, USA
- Phone
- 3365083915
- Rating
- 74
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Research Institutes and/or Public Policy Analysis
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $7
- Expenses
- $59,935
- Assets
- $17,400
- Liabilities
- $75,240
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
5 people listed
People named in this filing
- CHRISTINE COUGHLIN (CHAIR)
- ANDREW CHAMBERLIN (SECRETARY)
- JIM GOETZ (DIRECTOR)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The organization is committed to identifying meaningful and workable solutions to increase prosecutorial transparency and accountability. Our goal is to identify and implement reforms in the area of prosecutor accountability through bipartisan efforts in partnership with prosecutors, legislators, reform organizations and other stakeholders.
What it reported doing in 2025
To promote a just legal system and prevent prosecutorial misconduct by:1. Performing research to develop data related to the broader dimensions that affect criminal justice and prosecutorial accountability, such as mental health, neuroscience/neuroethics and bioethics.2. Collaborating with prosecutors, criminal defense attorneys, judges, academics, and engaged non-profits in a non-partisan way to develop consensus standards for conduct and accountability3. Educating the public and key stakeholders about the need for reform and serving as a repository for educational materials and resources for those involved in the criminal justice system4. Advocating the adoption of ethical standards of prosecutorial conduct and rational limitations on prosecutorial immunity. The organization is uniquely positioned to support the evolution of a criminal justice system toward increased justice, transparency, accountability and equality.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Investment-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 97% of its reported program spending out as grants.
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: 84
- Transparency & Controls: 93
- Accountability: 59
- Sustainability: 11
- Growth: 0
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 85.9%; rating input score 86
- 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -856,114.3%; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.29; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 4.32; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -29.3% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -50.1% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -0.5% per year; rating input score 0; 34th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 85.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $52K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
- Consistency: 15 of 15 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes grants
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2021 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 15/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 1/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.