BJS home page

Courts and Sentencing --
· Pretrial release & detention
> Criminal case processing
· Criminal sentencing
· Civil justice
· Court organization
· Indigent defense

Criminal Case Processing Statistics

Summary findings | BJS publications | Related sites

Summary findings

Felony defendants | Juvenile defendants

Felony defendants

• An estimated 57,497 felony cases were filed in the state courts of the nation's 75 largest counties during May 2004.
  
  
• About a fourth of these felony defendants were charged with a violent offense, usually assault (12.0%) or robbery (5.4%). Those charged with murder (0.6%) or rape (0.9%) accounted for a small percentage of defendants overall.
  
  
• About three-fourths of defendants were charged with a nonviolent felony. The most frequently charged nonviolent offenses were drug trafficking (15.0%), other drug offenses (21.6%), burglary (7.9%), and theft (7.8%).
  
  
• Thirty-nine percent of defendants had an active criminal justice status at the time of the current charged offense, including 16% who were on probation, 11% on pretrial release, and 5% on parole.
  
  
• Fifty-nine percent of all defendants were convicted of a felony, and 9% were convicted of a misdemeanor.
  
  
• The highest felony conviction rates were for defendants charged with motor vehicle theft (74%), a driving related offense (73%), murder (70%), burglary (69%), or drug trafficking (67%).
  
  
• The lowest felony conviction rates were found among assault defendants (45%).
  
  
• Ninety-seven percent of convictions occurring within 1 year of arrest were obtained through a guilty plea. About 9 in 10 guilty pleas were to a felony.
  
  
• Murder defendants (25%) were the most likely to have their case adjudicated by trial.
  
  
• Overall, 75% of the defendants whose most serious conviction charge was a felony were sentenced to incarceration. Nearly all of the remaining convicted defendants received a probation sentence.

Juvenile defendants in criminal courts

Under certain circumstances, juvenile defendants (as defined by state law) can be considered adults and tried in criminal courts. A BJS study conducted in 40 of the nation's largest urban counties found--

• An estimated 7,100 juvenile defendants were charged with felonies in adult criminal court in 1998.
  
  
• In criminal courts in these 40 counties, juveniles (64%) were more likely than adults (24%) to be charged with a violent felony.
  
  
• These juvenile defendants were generally treated as serious offenders, as 52% did not receive pretrial release, 63% were convicted of a felony, and 43% of those convicted received a prison sentence.
  
  
• States have expanded the mechanisms by which juveniles can be charged in criminal courts. In 1998, statutory exclusion was the most common method (42%) used to charge juveniles defendants compared to the more traditional use of juvenile waiver (24%).
  
  
• About two thirds (66%) of the juvenile felony defendants in the 40 large counties were convicted, either of a felony or a misdemeanor. Of those convicted, 64% were sentenced to jail or prison as the most serious penalty. The average prison sentence received was 90 months.
  
  
• In 1998, in the 40 counties, 62% of the juvenile felony defendants were black, 20% were white, 16% were Hispanic, and almost 2% were another race.
  

To the top

BJS Publications

This list is in order of the most recent publication first. Additional titles are listed on other topical pages and a comprehensive list is contained on the BJS publications page. To see a full abstract of a publication with links to electronic versions of the publication, click on the title below.

Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 2004, 4/08. Presents data collected from a representative sample of felony cases filed in the nation's 75 largest counties during May 2004. NCJ 221152

Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 2002, 2/06. NCJ 210818

Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 2000, 12/03. NCJ 202021

Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 1998, 11/01. NCJ 187232

Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 1996, 10/99. NCJ 176981

Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 1994, 1/98. NCJ 164616

Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 1992, 7/95. NCJ 148826

State Court Processing of Domestic Violence Cases, 2/08. Examines the processing of domestic violence (DV) and non-domestic violence (non-DV) cases filed in May 2002 in 15 large urban counties. NCJ 214993

Violent Felons in Large Urban Counties, 8/06. Presents data collected from a representative sample of felony cases that resulted in a felony conviction for a violent offense in 40 of the Nation's 75 largest counties. NCJ 205289

Census of Tribal Justice Agencies in Indian Country, 2002, 12/05. Presents detailed information gathered on tribal law enforcement agencies, tribal courts and services, and criminal record systems from the 2002 Census of Tribal Justice Agencies in American Indian Jurisdictions. NCJ 205332

Family Violence Statistics: Including Statistics on Strangers and Acquaintances, 6/05. Compares family and nonfamily violence statistics from victimization through the different stages of the justice system. NCJ 207846

Cross-National Studies in Crime and Justice, 9/04. Summarizes the results from a study that documents crime and criminal punishment trends from 1981 to 1999 in eight countries: Australia, Canada, England, the Netherlands, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. NCJ 200988

Juvenile Felony Defendants in Criminal Courts: Survey of 40 Counties, 1998 5/03. Discusses the increase in violent juvenile crime experienced during the early and mid-1990's, which prompted States to modify the way their justice systems handle juvenile offenders. NCJ 197961

Federal Criminal Appeals, 1999, with Trends 1985-99, 4/01. Describes the increase in the appellate caseload as a result of challenges to the sentence imposed. NCJ 185055

Defense Counsel in Criminal Cases, 11/00. Examines issues of legal representation for defendants in Federal district court and large local jurisdictions, and inmates in local jails and Federal and State prison. NCJ 179023

Crime and Justice in the United States and in England and Wales, 1981-96, 10/98. Presents data that compares crime in the United States and England with respect to crime rates (as measured both by victimization surveys and police statistics), conviction rates, incarceration rates, and length of sentences. NCJ 169284

Juvenile Felony Defendants in Criminal Courts: State Court Processing Statistics, 1990-94 9/98. Presents findings from the 1990, 1992, and 1994 State Court Processing Statistics (SCPS) program, as well as juvenile court data collected by the National Center for Juvenile Justice (NCJJ). NCJ 165815

German and American Prosecutions: An Approach to Statistical Comparison, 5/98. Provides a statistical comparison of German and American prosecutions, focusing mainly on charging, conviction, and sentencing rates for selected crimes. NCJ 166610

Spouse Murder Defendants in Large Urban Counties , 10/11/95. Discusses how State prosecutors, judges, and juries handled two types of murder cases (husbands killing wives and wives killing husbands) and gives specific case histories, describing each case and its outcome.
Fact sheet NCJ FS000127
Executive summary NCJ 156831
Full report NCJ -153256

Federal Habeas Corpus Review: Challenging State Court Criminal Convictions, 9/95. Examines a sample of disposed habeas corpus cases (through which State prisoners make petitions to challenge the validity of their convictions or sentences) in 18 Federal district courts in 9 selected States (Alabama, California, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas). NCJ 155504

Murder in Large Urban Counties, 1988, 5/93. Represents almost 10,000 prosecuted murder defendants and more than 8,000 murder victims in the Nation's 75 most populous counties in 1988-- about half of the Nation's murder arrestees for that year and just under half of the murder victims. NCJ 140614

To the top

Related sites

From BJS

• Federal justice system statistics

Other relevant sites

• Office of Justice Programs Courts page
• Juvenile Justice Statistics from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
• National Center for State Courts, Courts Statistics Project
• U.S. Federal Courts

Bureau of Justice Statistics
www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/
Send comments to askbjs@usdoj.gov

OJP Freedom of Information Act page
Legal Policies and Disclaimers
Page last revised on April 25, 2008