BJS: Bureau of Justice Statistics

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Felony defendants
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Any offense punishable by death or imprisonment for more than one year is classified as a felony. Felonies are the most serious crimes. The prosecutors and the courts handle felony cases differently from misdemeanor cases (cases that have shorter possible sentences).  Since 1988, BJS has tracked the processing of persons charged with felony offenses in the 75 largest counties through its State Court Processing Statistics (SCPS) program. SCPS collects data on arrest charges, demographic characteristics, criminal histories, pretrial release and detention, adjudication, and sentencing.

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Publications & Products


Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 2009 - Statistical Tables Presents data on felony defendants for cases filed in May 2009 and followed up for up to 1 year after filing (2 years for murder cases); statistics covered include arrest charges, demographic characteristics, criminal histories, pretrial processing, adjudication, and sentencing.
  Full report (PDF 2M) | ASCII file (49K) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 52K)
Part of the Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties Series

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.
  Acrobat file (PDF 1.61M) | ASCII file (43K) | Spreadsheets (Zip format 50K)
Part of the Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties Series

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.
  Full report (PDF 86K) | Spreadsheet (5K)
Part of the Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties Series

Felony Sentences in State Courts, 2004 Presents statistics for adults who were convicted of a felony and sentenced in state courts. The data were collected in a nationally representative survey of 300 counties in 2004.
  Full report (PDF 152K) | ASCII file (28K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 22K)
Part of the Felony Sentences in State Courts Series

Violent Felons in Large Urban Counties "Study finds more than half of all convicted violent felons had a prior record -- Thirty percent of those who murdered were younger than 21"
  Press Release | More information about this release

State Court Processing Statistics (SCPS) Program,1990-98 (CD-ROM) This CD includes biennial data on the processing of felony defendants in State courts of the Nation's 75 most populous counties.
  HTML
Part of the Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties Series

Felony Sentences in State Courts, 2002 Presents statistics for adults who were convicted of a felony and sentenced in State courts in 2002.
  Full report (PDF 557K) | ASCII file (25K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 28K) | Codebooks and Datasets
Part of the Felony Sentences in State Courts Series

Felony Sentences in State Courts, 2000 Presents statistics for adults who were convicted of a felony and sentenced in State courts in 2000.
  Full report (PDF 161K) | ASCII file (24K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 62K) | Codebooks and Datasets
Part of the Felony Sentences in State Courts Series

Juvenile Felony Defendants in Criminal Courts: Survey of 40 Counties, 1998 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.
  Full report (PDF 223K) | ASCII file (23K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 30K) | Codebooks and Datasets

Felony Sentences in State Courts, 1998 Presents statistics for adults who were convicted of a felony and sentenced in State courts in 1998.
  Full report (PDF 152K) | ASCII file (39K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 103K) | Codebooks and Datasets
Part of the Felony Sentences in State Courts Series

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