U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics State Court Sentencing of Convicted Felons, 2002 April 2005, NCJ 208910 --------------------------------------------------------------- This file is text only without graphics and many of the tables. A Zip archive of the tables in this report in spreadsheet format (.wk1) and the full report including tables and graphics in .pdf format are available from: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/scscfst.htm These tables are part of a series. For a list of all in this series see: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pubalp2.htm#scscf ---------------------------------------------------------------- State Court Sentencing of Convicted Felons, 2002 Statistical Tables http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/scscfst.htm By Matthew R. Durose Statistician Patrick A. Langan, Ph.D. Statistician State Court Sentencing of Convicted Felons, 2002 -- Statistical Tables Methodology (repeated with each section) Felony sentences in State courts, 2002 Table 1.1. Estimated number of felony convictions in State courts, 2002 Table 1.2. Distribution of types of felony sentences imposed in State courts, by offense, 2002 Table 1.3. Average felony sentence lengths in State courts, by offense and type of sentence, 2002 Table 1.4. Estimated percent of felons sentenced to life in State prison, by offense, 2002 Table 1.5. Estimated time to be served in State prison, by offense, 2002 Table 1.6. Distribution of the number of felony convictions for persons sentenced in State courts, by most serious offense, 2002 Table 1.7. Convicted felons sentenced to prison in State courts, by number of convictions, 2002 Table 1.8. Mean sentence lengths for State felony sentences imposed, by the number and category of the conviction offense, 2002 Table 1.9. Felons sentenced to an additional penalty in State courts, by offense, 2002 Profile of felons convicted in State courts, 2002 Table 2.1. Demographic characteristics of persons convicted of felonies in State courts, by offense, 2002 Table 2.2. Offense distribution of felons convicted in State courts, by gender, race, and age of felons, 2002 Table 2.3. Average age of convicted felons in State courts, by offense, 2002 Table 2.4. Distribution of types of felony sentences imposed in State courts, by gender of felons and offense, 2002 Table 2.5. Distribution of types of felony sentences imposed in State courts, by race of felons and offense, 2002 Table 2.6. Mean length of felony State court sentences imposed, by offense and gender of felons, 2002 Table 2.7. Mean length of felony State court sentences imposed, by offense and race of felons, 2002 Table 2.8. Offense distribution of felons sentenced to incarceration or prison in State courts, by gender and race of felons, 2002 Table 2.9. Offense distribution of felons sentenced to jail or probation in State courts, by gender and race of felons, 2002 Table 2.10. Percent of convicted felons sentenced in State courts to incarceration or prison, by gender, race, and offense, 2002 Table 2.11. Percent of convicted felons sentenced in State courts to jail or probation, by gender, race, and offense, 2002 Table 2.12. Mean length of State felony sentences to incarceration or prison, by gender, race, and offense, 2002 Table 2.13. Mean length of State felony sentences to jail or probation, by gender, race, and offense, 2002 Felons sentenced to probation in State courts, 2002 Table 3.1. Among felons convicted in State courts in 2002, percent sentenced to probation, by offense; and offense distribution, by type of sentence Table 3.2. Distribution of types of State felony sentences to probation or incarceration, by offense, 2002 Table 3.3. Average probation sentence lengths of felons convicted in State courts, by offense, 2002 Table 3.4. Average incarceration sentence lengths for felons receiving sentences with or without probation, by offense, 2002 Table 3.5. Distribution of the number of felony conviction offenses for persons sentenced to probation in State courts, by offense, 2002 Table 3.6. Offense distribution of convicted felons receiving sentences with or without probation in State courts, by gender of felons, 2002 Table 3.7. Offense of felons receiving probation or a sentence without probation in State courts, by gender of felons, 2002 Table 3.8. Offense of felons receiving probation or a sentence without probation in State courts, by race of felons, 2002 Table 3.9. Offense distribution of convicted felons receiving sentences with or without probation in State courts, by race of felons, 2002 Table 3.10. Average age of felons receiving probation or a sentence without probation in State courts, by offense, 2002 Table 3.11. Felons sentenced to probation in State courts, by offense and age at sentencing, 2002 Felony case processing in State courts, 2002 Table 4.1. Estimated number of felony convictions in State courts, by offense and type of conviction, 2002 Table 4.2. Distribution of types of felony convictions in State courts, by offense, 2002 Table 4.3. Offense distribution of felons convicted in State courts, by type of conviction, 2002 Table 4.4. Distribution of types of felony sentences imposed in State courts, by type of conviction and offense, 2002 Table 4.5. Average felony sentence lengths in State courts, by the type of conviction, type of sentence imposed, and offense, 2002 Table 4.6. Distribution of types of sentences imposed on felons convicted of murder or nonnegligent manslaughter, by type of conviction, 2002 Table 4.7. Distribution of the number of felony conviction offenses for persons sentenced in State courts, by type of conviction, 2002 Table 4.8. Distribution of types of sentences imposed in State courts, by number of felony conviction offenses and type of conviction, 2002 Table 4.9. Time between arrest and felony conviction in State courts, by offense and type of conviction, 2002 Table 4.10. Time between felony conviction and sentencing in State courts, by offense and type of conviction, 2002 Table 4.11. Time between arrest and sentencing for persons convicted of a felony in State courts, by offense and type of conviction, 2002 Table 4.12. Average felony sentence lengths in State courts, by number of felony conviction offenses, type of conviction, and type of sentence, 2002 Methodology Sampling Using a stratified cluster sampling design, 300 counties were selected for the 2002 survey. While there were 3,141 counties or county equivalents in the Nation in 2002, 36 reported their NJRP data in combination with another county or county equivalent. This left 3,105 jurisdictions to be divided into 20 strata. Each county was assigned to one stratum by meeting the conditions for that stratum. The largest 75 counties in the United States (as defined by the 2000 resident population) were separated from the 3,105 jurisdictions (see table). Each State was then assigned a "cost-factor" (1, 3, 5) which reflected the overall cost of collecting their 2000 NJRP data. Counties in States where data collection is not costly were assigned a "1." Counties in States where data collection is moderately costly were assigned a "3." Counties in States where data collection is costly were assigned a "5." Counties in each "cost-factor" group were then separated into categories based on the size of their 2000 population. Among the Nation's largest 75 counties, those assigned a cost-factor 1 were separated into 2 strata (defined by year 2000 population size), cost-factor 3 counties remained in one stratum, and cost-factor 5 counties were separated into 2 strata (defined by year 2000 population size). Among counties that were not one of the Nation's largest 75, those assigned a cost-factor of 1 were separated into 5 strata (defined by year 2000 population size). Cost-factor 3 counties were separated into 4 strata (defined by year 2000 population size), and cost-factor 5 counties were separated into 5 strata (defined by year 2000 population size). Because the 75 largest counties account for a disproportionately large amount of serious crime in the Nation, they were given a greater chance of being selected than the remaining counties. Altogether, 58 out of the 75 largest counties were sampled. All 36 counties in strata 0, 11, and 12 were selected for the sample. Strata 31, 51, and 52 consisted of the remaining 22 counties sampled from the largest 75 counties. Strata 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 131, 132, 133,134, 151, 152, 153, 154, and 155 included 242 counties sampled from among the 3,030 not among the 75 largest. The final sample thus included 300 counties (58 out of the 75 largest counties, and 242 out of the remaining 3,030 counties). Case-level data were successfully obtained on 455,690 convicted felons sentenced in 2002 from these 300 counties. Of these, 314,477 cases were in the 75 largest counties. The 36 sampled counties in strata 0, 11, and 12 were self-representing only, and their sampled cases therefore had a sampling weight of 1. The remaining strata were selected to represent their respective strata so that the sampled felony conviction cases had weights greater than 1. Sampling error National estimates of the number of convictions for individual crime categories and for the aggregate total had a coefficient of variation of 4.1%. Standard errors for some of the tables in this report are available on the Internet:. Where this report compares 2002 NJRP figures to those from prior years' NJRP data, the differences discussed were statistically significant at the .05 level. Sources of data State courts were the source of NJRP data for about 44% of the 300 counties sampled. For other counties, sources included prosecutors' offices, sentencing commissions, and statistical agencies. For 299 of the 300 counties sampled, individual-level NJRP records were obtained electronically (from diskettes or the Internet). The one remaining county provided data through photocopies of official documents. All data were collected by the U.S. Census Bureau. Targeted population Since it was impractical to target sentences in 2002, cases sampled from 26 Pennsylvania counties, 1 Florida county, 8 Maryland counties, 15 Michigan counties, 12 Minnesota counties, 15 New Jersey counties, and 6 Oklahoma counties were sentenced in 2001; and cases sampled from 1 Ohio county were sentenced in 2003. The 2002 NJRP data files obtained from Miami-Dade (FL) and Dallas (TX) showed far fewer felony convictions than shown by court data sources for these counties. To correct the number of felony cases from these counties in 2002, the data were adjusted upward. The 2002 conviction data from Lake County (FL) were adjusted to account for less than a full year of reporting. Crime definitions Find the definitions in Felony Sentences in State Courts, 1996 . Related reading Data used in this report were also used in the BJS publication Felony Sentences in State Courts, 2002 (NCJ 206916). ----------------------------------------------------- The Bureau of Justice Statistics is the statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. Lawrence A. Greenfeld is director. These tables were prepared by Matthew R. Durose. Erica Schmitt assisted with verification. Sample design and selection were performed by Terri L. Carter under the supervision of Carma R. Hogue of the Economic Statistical Methods and Programming Division of the U.S. Census Bureau. Data collection and processing were performed by Victoria Campbell, Martha Greene, Monica Hill, Neil MacLean, and Patricia Torreyson under the supervision of Latrice Brogsdale-Davis of the Governments Division of the U.S. Census Bureau. April 2005, NCJ 208910 ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- Data presented in this report may be obtained from the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data at the University of Michigan, 1-800-999-0960. The archive is linked to the BJS website: ------------------------------------------------------- End of file 04/04/05 ih