1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Ensuring Quality Access to Legal Defense Act of 2023 or the EQUAL Defense Act of 2023 . 2. Purpose The purpose of this Act is— (1) to protect the rights of defendants in criminal cases to due process and a fair trial under the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, including the right to counsel in State criminal trials, as articulated by the United States Supreme Court in Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963); (2) to collect data related to public defense in order to facilitate the development of evidence-based workload limits, and for other purposes; and (3) to ensure that public defender compensation reflects the constitutional imperative of the work and adequately incentivizes attorneys at all levels to pursue a career in public defense. 3. Definitions In this Act, except as otherwise provided in section 6: (1) Applicable court The term applicable court , with respect to an eligible entity that is— (A) a State or unit of local government, means— (i) a court of the eligible entity; and (ii) a court of a unit of local government within the eligible entity; and (B) a Tribal organization, means a court of the Indian Tribe. (2) Applicable public defender's office The term applicable public defender's office , with respect to an eligible entity that is— (A) a public defender's office, means the eligible entity; (B) a State or unit of local government, means— (i) the public defender's office of the eligible entity; and (ii) a public defender's office of a unit of local government within the eligible entity