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Prosecution Statistics
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Summary findings
In 2001 -
- Half the prosecutors'
offices Nationwide employed 9 or fewer people and had a budget of $318,000
or less.
- The 2,341
State court prosecutors' offices employed over 79,000 attorneys, investigators,
and support staff; a 39% increase from 1992 and 13% from 1996.
- Over three-quarters
of the Nation's chief prosecutors occupied full-time positions compared
to about half in 1990. Sixty-five percent of all offices had at least
one full-time assistant attorney.
- Forty-one percent of the prosecutors' offices had a staff person who had been threatened or assaulted compared to 49% in 1996.
- Over two-thirds
of all offices reported the use of DNA evidence during plea negotiations
or felony trials compared to about half of the offices in 1996.
- Approximately
69% of all offices indicated having proceeded against an estimated 32,000
juveniles in criminal court.
- Four out of ten offices prosecuted computer-related crimes (felony or misdemeanor) under their State's computer statutes.
- About 23% of prosecutors' offices assigned prosecutors to handle community-related activities.
State court prosecutors' offices, 2001
|
|
Full-time offices (population served) |
|
|
|
|
|
All offices |
1,000,000
or more |
250,000 to
999,999 |
Under
250,000 |
Part-time
offices |
|
|
| Number of offices |
2,341 |
34 |
194 |
1,581 |
532 |
|
| Median: |
|
| Population served |
36,052 |
1,478,630 |
449,737 |
41,319 |
9,589 |
| Total staff size |
9 |
456 |
112 |
10 |
3 |
Salary of chief
prosecutor |
$85,000 |
$136,700 |
$115,000 |
$90,000 |
$39,750 |
| Budget for prosecution |
$318,000 |
$32,115,000 |
$6,100,000 |
$379,000 |
$95,000 |
|
|
State Court
Prosecutors in Large Districts
In 2001 --
- Over 14,000 assistant
prosecutors and supervisory attorneys who litigated cases were employed
by prosecutors' offices in large districts.
- Large district
offices had combined total budgets of $2.9 billion for prosecutorial
functions in 2001. The median office budget was $14 million.
- Annually, prosecutors'
offices in large districts closed over 1 million felony cases, with
a median conviction rate of 85%.
- 65% of prosecutors
offices in large districts reported a threat or assault against an assistant
prosecutor, 41% the chief prosecutor, and 22% a staff investigator.
- During the previous
12 months, prosecutors' offices in large districts proceeded against
in almost 11,000 juvenile cases.
State Court Prosecutors in Small Districts
- Full-time offices serving districts with a population under 250,000
had combined budgets of over $1 billion in 2001.
- Almost two-thirds of full-time offices serving districts with a population
under 250,000 used DNA evidence in plea negotiations and half of full
time offices used it during felony trials.
- Nine out of ten full-time prosecutors' offices serving districts with
a population under 250,000 handled domestic violence and child abuse
cases.
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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.
State
Court Prosecutors in Small Districts, 2001, 01/03. Presents results
from the 2001 National Survey of Prosecutors (NSP), which collected data
on all chief prosecutors that handled felony cases in State courts of
general jurisdiction. The report covers prosecutor's offices that served
a district with less than 250,000 population. NCJ 196020
Prosecutors in State Courts, 2001, 05/02. Presents findings from
the 2001 National Survey of Prosecutors, which was a census of all 2,341
prosecutors’ offices that tried felony cases in State courts of general
jurisdiction. NCJ 193441
-
Prosecutors in State Courts, 1996,
7/98. NCJ 170092
-
Prosecutors in State Courts, 1994, 10/96. NCJ 151656
-
Prosecutors in State Courts, 1992, 12/93. NCJ 145319
State
Court Prosecutors in Large Districts, 2001, 12/01. Presents data
from the 2001 National Survey of Prosecutors (NSP) on all chief prosecutors
hat served districts with a population of 500,000 or more and handled felony
cases in State courts of general jurisdiction. NCJ 191206
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
Juveniles
Prosecuted in State Criminal Court, 3/97. Presents findings from
the 1994 BJS National Survey of Prosecutors and other BJS statistical
series, as well as data collected by the National Center for Juvenile
Justice on juveniles proceeded against in State criminal courts. NCJ 164265
Performance
Measures for the Criminal Justice System, 10/93.This compendium
of Discussion Papers represents the work of the BJS-Princeton University
Study Group on Criminal Justice Performance Measures. NCJ 143505
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BJS Prosecution data collection
National
Survey of Prosecutors, a biennial series, collects data on resources,
policies, and practices of local prosecutors from a nationally representative
sample of 308 chief litigating prosecutors in State court systems. The
survey obtains basic information on staffing and operations and collects
data on current topics such as the use of innovative prosecution techniques,
intermediate sanctions, juvenile cases transferred to criminal court,
actions against prosecutors and other professional staff, and work-related
assaults and threats. The 2001 National Survey of Prosecutors is a census
as opposed to a sample of all State court prosecutors.
1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2001
Codebooks
and Datasets
2001 National
Survey of Prosecutor's Questionnaire,
Acrobat file (57K)
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