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BJS has sponsored periodic data collections examining criminal trial and appellate litigation in state courts since 1986. From 1986 to 2006, the National Judicial Reporting Program (NJRP) collected felony sentencing data from a nationally representative stratified sample of state courts in 300 counties. Information included age, race, and sex, dates of arrest, conviction and sentencing data, mode of conviction, and type of sentence imposed. Data were collected every 2 years during this period.

The National Pretrial Reporting Program (1988-1992), renamed State Court Processing Statistics (1994-2006, 2009) provided data on the criminal justice processing of persons charged with felonies in 40 jurisdictions representative of the 75 largest counties. These counties accounted for nearly half of the serious crime nationwide. The program prospectively tracked felony defendants from charging by the prosecutor until disposition of their cases (a maximum of 12 months for nonmurder cases and 24 months for murder cases). Data were obtained on demographic characteristics, arrest charges, criminal justice status at time of arrest, prior arrests and convictions, pretrial release and detention, court appearance record, rearrests while on pretrial release, type and outcome of adjudication, and type and length of sentence.

In addition, BJS funded studies of criminal appeals in state appellate courts in 2010. The report, Criminal Appeals in State Courts, includes estimates of the number of criminal appeals resolved in state courts in 2010, by type of case, whether the state or the defendant petitioned the court, severity of the offense, level of appellate court (intermediate or last resort), and final outcomes. It tracks reversal rates for the top ten issues commonly addressed on appeal and reversal rates by the most serious offense in the underlying trial case. The report examines variations in case processing times by type of court and whether the court reviewed the case on its merits. It also compares death penalty appeals with other appeals cases on these factors. Findings are based on data from BJS's 2010 Survey of State Court Criminal Appeals, in which a sample of appeals were selected from the 143 state appellate courts with criminal jurisdiction.

BJS released the findings of the Survey of State Attorneys General Offices. The report presents information on the jurisdiction of attorneys general over criminal white-collar crime offenses.

BJS has also produced several reports examining civil litigation in federal district courts.

Data Collections & Surveys

• State Court Processing Statistics (SCPS)
• Survey of State Attorneys General Offices

Publications & Products

Jurisdiction of State Attorneys General Offices over White-Collar Crime, 2014 This report describes the findings of the first Survey of State Attorneys General Offices, which collected information on jurisdiction, sources, and circumstances of white-collar crime cases.
	Full report (PDF 722K) | Data tables (Zip format 20K)
State and Local White Collar Crime Program: State Regulatory Agency Statutes for Selected Offenses (Volume I and II) Examines how all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories handled regulatory functions in four offense categories: banking and finance, environmental, worker safety, and Medicaid fraud.
	Volume I (PDF 1M) | Volume II (PDF 1.41M)
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
Pretrial Detention and Misconduct in Federal District Courts, 1995-2010 Presents findings on general trends in pretrial detention and misconduct in the federal district courts between fiscal years 1995 and 2010.
	Full report (PDF 1.6M) | ASCII file (34K) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 11K)
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 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.
	Acrobat file (PDF) | Spreadsheets (Zip format 30K) | ASCII file (26K) Part of the Felony Sentences in State Courts Series
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.
	Press Release | Full report (PDF 1.4M) | ASCII file (25K) | Spreadsheet (16K)
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
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.
	Press Release | Full report (PDF 221K) | ASCII file (24K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 11K)
Pretrial Release of Felony Defendants in State Courts Presents findings on the pretrial release phase of the criminal justice process using data collected from a representative sample of felony cases filed in the 75 largest U.S. counties in May during even-numbered years from 1990 to 2004.
	Full report (PDF 201K) | ASCII file (37K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 23K)

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