The Federal Death Penalty Resource Counsel Project (FDPRCP) is a program of the Defender Services Office of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AOUSC) designed to assist the federal courts, federal defenders, and appointed counsel in connection with matters relating to the defense function in federal capital cases at the trial level. Capital Resource Counsel (CRC) serve as full-time assistant federal defenders with the principal responsibility of focusing on federal capital cases assigned to federal defender organizations, including training their staff, consulting on cases, and serving as co-counsel in a limited number of cases.

Since early 1992, the Project has monitored all federal death penalty cases and has collected information which might be useful to both lawyers and judges involved in federal capital cases. The Project assists trial counsel with telephone consultation, identification of experts, mitigation specialists and investigators, legal research, drafting pleadings, instructions, and on-site assistance before and during capital trials. The Project is also available to respond to inquiries from the courts regarding the defense function in federal capital prosecutions. The Project has also been involved with:

• identification and recruitment of defense counsel "learned in the law applicable to capital cases" for possible appointment under 18 U.S.C. Section 3005;
• assisting the Defender Services Office, AOUSC, in responding to judicial inquiries concerning the defense function, case management, and case budgeting in federal capital cases;
• development of capital litigation training programs and materials to assist federal defenders and court-appointed private counsel;
• responding to Congressional inquiries directed to the federal defender system concerning proposed capital punishment legislation, and
• maintaining a liaison between the federal public defender system and the Department of Justice regarding the administration of federal death penalty statutes.