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The Prosecution and Adjudication Statistics Unit examines criminal and civil cases as they are processed through the judicial system, as well as the organizations that play key roles in the judicial process. The unit also oversees several specialized projects that focus on specific crimes, offenders, and systems, such as human trafficking, juveniles processed in state court systems, and tribal justice systems.
At the state level, BJS provides data on state court sentencing of convicted felons and criminal justice processing of persons charged with felonies. The adjudication and sentencing data series provides the only national source of information on judicial decision-making and the manner in which cases are managed and adjudicated as they traverse the criminal justice system. Through this series, BJS prospectively tracks felons from arrest through final disposition to determine the outcomes of case decision-making at each decision-point in the justice system. The data series provides estimates on the number of felony defendants released pretrial, factors associated with pretrial release such as defendants rearrested and the role of commercial bail bondsmen, the number of persons convicted of a felony in state courts annually, the types of sentences they receive, and the demographic characteristics of persons convicted.
BJS also sponsors several projects that examine the adjudication of civil cases by bench or jury trial in a national sample of trial courts. The data collection provides information on the characteristics of plaintiffs and defendants as well as case processing and outcome characteristics, including post-verdict relief and appeals.
The work of offices and systems critical to the judicial process, including the provision of indigent defense services, prosecutors' offices, and aggregate information on the work of state court systems, are also examined by BJS Prosecution and Adjudication Unit. The Court Statistics Project (CSP) provides state-by-state data on civil and criminal workloads in all state and local courts including case type, case filings, case processing, disposition, and appellate opinions. Data collected from public defenders and prosecutors’ offices allow BJS to analyze staffing, caseloads and expenditures associated with prosecuting and defending criminal cases in the nation’s courts.
Data Collections & Surveys | |
Publications & Products | |
Appeals of Civil Trials Concluded in 2005
Presents information on civil trials concluded in state trial courts in 2005 with judgments or verdicts later appealed to an intermediate appellate court or court of last resort. |
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PDF (1.1M) | ASCII file (25K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 19K)
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Compendium of Tribal Crime Data, 2011
Focuses on BJS's existing data on key criminal justice issues in Indian country and addresses gaps in tribal crime data. |
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Punitive Damage Awards in State Courts, 2005
Presents findings on civil trials concluded in 2005 in a national sample of state trial courts in which punitive damages were requested or awarded. |
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PDF (537K) | ASCII file (27K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 33K)
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Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 2006
Presents data collected from a representative sample of felony cases filed in the nation's 75 most populous counties during May 2006. |
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Acrobat file (PDF 1.61M) | ASCII file (43K) | Spreadsheets (Zip format 50K)
Part of the Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties Series
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Tort Bench and Jury Trials in State Courts, 2005
Discusses tort cases concluded by a bench or jury trial in a national sample of jurisdictions in 2005. |
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Acrobat file (PDF 368K) | ASCII file (36K) | Zip format (26K) | To order paper version
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Profile of Intimate Partner Violence Cases in Large Urban Counties
Examines the characteristics and processing of 3,750 cases of intimate partner violence, filed in the state courts of 16 large urban counties in May 2002. |
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Press Release | PDF (1.4M) | ASCII file (25K) | Spreadsheet (16K)
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Contract Bench and Jury Trials in State Courts, 2005
Presents findings on contract cases disposed of by a bench or jury trial in a nationally representative sample of jurisdictions in 2005. |
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PDF (456K) | ASCII file (25) | Zip format (24K)
Part of the Civil Trial Cases and Verdicts in Large Counties Series
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Civil Rights Complaints in U.S. District Courts, 1990-2006
Examines civil rights claims based on race, age, sex, or national origin involving employment, welfare, housing, voting, or other civil rights discrimination issues. |
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Press Release | PDF (137K) | ASCII file (31K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 22K) | To order paper version
Part of the Civil Rights Complaints in U.S. District Courts Series
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Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 2004
Presents data collected from a representative sample of felony cases filed in the nation's 75 largest counties during May 2004. |
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PDF (86K) | Spreadsheet (5K) | To order paper version
Part of the Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties Series
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State Court Processing of Domestic Violence Cases
Examines the processing of domestic violence (DV) and non-domestic violence (non-DV) cases filed in May 2002 in 15 large urban counties. |
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Press Release | PDF (221K) | ASCII file (24K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 11K) | To order paper version
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Prosecutors in State Courts, 2007 - Statistical Tables
Presents findings on felony caseloads and convictions in the 2,330 chief prosecutors' offices in the United States that handled felony cases in state courts of general jurisdiction. |
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PDF (954M) | ASCII file (17K) | Zip format (38K)
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Felony Sentences in State Courts, 2006 - Statistical Tables (Standard error tables added)
Presents findings from the 2006 National Judicial Reporting Program (NJRP), which compiles detailed information on the sentences that felons receive in state courts nationwide and on characteristics of the felons. |
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Acrobat file (PDF) | Spreadsheets (Zip format 30K) | ASCII file (26K)
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State Court Sentencing of Convicted Felons, 2004 - Statistical Tables
Presents statistics for adults who were convicted of a felony and sentenced in State courts. The data were collected through a survey of a nationally representative sample of State Courts in 300 counties in 2004. |
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HTML | Methodology
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State Court Sentencing of Convicted Felons, 2002 - Statistical Tables
Presents statistics for adults who were convicted of a felony and sentenced in State courts. |
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HTML
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Selected Crime, Criminal Justice, and Demographic Data - 25 Largest Cities
Presents selected crime data, as well as data on criminal justice resources and demographic variables, for the 25 largest cities. |
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Download CSV file (Spreadsheet 12K)
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Criminal Justice Resources - 90 Most Populous Counties
Selected crime data, as well as data on criminal justice resources and demographic
variables, for the 90 most populous counties. |
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Download CSV file (Spreadsheet 34K)
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Terms & Definitions | |
Adjudication |
The act of a court in making an order, judgment, or decree. |
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Appellate Courts |
Any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower
tribunal. |
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Assigned counsel |
The appointment from a list of private bar members who accept cases on a judge-by-
judge, court-by-court, or case-by-case basis. This may include an administrative
component and a set of rules and guidelines governing the appointment and processing of
cases handled by the private bar members. |
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Bench trial (nonjury trial) |
A trial held in the absence of a
jury and decided by a judge culminating in a judgment for
the plaintiff(s) or defendant(s). |
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Capital cases |
Crimes that can result in a death penalty. |
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Related Links | |