Information describing Federal criminal case processing is

decentralized. Each of the Federal criminal justice agencies

collects similar data describing criminal case processing events.

However, based on the specific needs and missions of the

individual agencies, different criteria are used to tabulate and

report these data. Therefore, statistics published or reported by

the agencies are not directly comparable. The differences are

primarily due to the way in which the agencies: 

 

• Tally defendants and cases processed

• Define defendants processed

• Classify offense committed

• Classify disposition and sentence imposed.

The table illustrates how these differences affect the number of

defendants reported by the agencies at various stages of the

Federal criminal justice system. For example, the difference in

the number of defendant in cases filed that is reported by the U.S.

attorneys and the Federal judiciary is primarily attributable to the

handling of defendants in cases filed before U.S. magistrates: 

the judiciary includes these defendants in their official statistics

whereas U.S. attorneys do not.

The differences identified can be reconciled by standardizing

certain case processing concepts. The agencies agreed that the

Bureau of Justice Statistics will reconcile the case processing

statistics reported by the agencies. These reconciled statistics

will be part of the annual report Federal Criminal Case

Processing Statistics. This report, which will highlight specific

aspects of the Federal criminal justice system, will conform to the

standards used in the BJS Compendium of Federal Justice

Statistics. The Compendium, also an annual report provides

greater detail about defendants processed at each phase of the

Federal criminal justice system.

Federal criminal justice agencies

The Department of Justice collects data on the workload and

activities of the United States attorneys. According to the

Executive Office for the U.S. Attorneys, the U.S. attorneys initiate

approximately 95 percent of the criminal cases prosecuted by the

Department. Litigating divisions of the Department handle the

remaining cases. While many of the cases initiated by the

litigating divisions are included in the U.S. attorneys’ database,

each division maintains its own separate data collection system

to track cases processed.

The Administrative Office of the United States Courts collects

data on the caseload and activities of the Federal judiciary

including district court judges, magistrate judges, and the

probation and pretrial services system. The Federal judiciary

handles all Federal criminal cases whether initiated by the U.S.

attorney offices in each judicial district or by other divisions within

the Department of Justice.

The United States Sentencing Commission, while not collecting

workload statistics, collects data on defendants convicted in

Federal courts who were sentenced pursuant to the provisions 

of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984. It is estimated that

approximately 86 percent of all defendants convicted are

sentenced pursuant to the Federal sentencing guidelines.

The Bureau of Prisons collects data on Federal prisoners.

Reported statistics include size (including admissions, releases,

and standing count) and composition of the Federal prison

population.

U.S. Department of Justice

Washington, D.C.

| Administrative Office of the United States Courts 

| Bureau of Justice Statistics | Executive Office for the United States Attorneys 

| Federal Bureau of Prisons | United States Sentencing Commission

Comparing Case Processing Statistics

Imprisoned 33,136 37,579 33,962 35,254 14,432 15,535 15,371 15,203

45,380 52,270 42,436 NA 16,083 16,461 16,251 NA

Convicted and 

sentenced

Cases terminated 52,366 62,946 NA NA 18,692 19,267 NA NA

Cases filed 58,141 67,700 NA NA 20,788 21,528 NA NA

Federal

Bureau of

Prisons

U.S.

Sentencing

Commission

Administrative

Office of the

U.S. Courts

Executive

Office for U.S.

Attorneys

Federal

Bureau of

Prisons 

U.S.

Sentencing

Commission

Administrative

Office of the

U.S. Courts

Executive

Office for U.S.

Defendants  Attorneys

All offenses Drug trafficking offenses only

Comparison of the number of defendants processed by Federal agencies, 1996

March 1998, NCJ 169274
Comparing published Federal case processing statistics

While each of the Federal agencies processing criminal

defendants generally reports on the same individuals, many of

the case processing statistics vary across agencies. The

differences in these reported statistics are attributable, in part, to

the differing needs and missions of the agencies. The primary

differences in data collection techniques are described below:

Tally of defendants and cases processed

While each agency’s statistical publication reports on the same

12-month period (October 1 through September 30), the

agencies’ reports do not necessarily describe the same records.

Except for the U.S. attorneys, the agencies report on those

records for which an event actually occurred during the reporting

period. The U.S. attorneys, on the other hand, report on those

records for which an event was recorded or posted in their database during the reporting period even if the event actually

occurred prior to the start of the reporting period. In addition,

because the Sentencing Commission relies on the submission 

of paper documents, cases for which documents were received

after a certain cut-off date are not reported.

Defendants processed

Even though there is an identifiable cohort of individuals

processed in the criminal justice system, the definition of a

defendant can vary across agencies. The U.S. attorneys and the

Federal judiciary have similar definitions of a criminal defendant.

The U.S. attorneys define a criminal defendant as person for

whom a significant paper has been filed in Federal court before

either a U.S. district court judge or a U.S. magistrate judge. The

Federal judiciary defines a criminal defendant as a person

against whom a U.S. district court judge or a U.S. magistrate

judge has taken a specific action. (While the U.S. attorneys and

the Federal judiciary define defendants in similar ways, the U.S.

attorneys report separately the number of cases filed before U.S.

magistrate judges.) For both the U.S. attorneys and the Federal

judiciary, an individual person may be counted more than once if

the defendant appeared in more than one case. The Sentencing

Commission, on the other hand, defines a defendant as a person

for whom a sentencing event has occurred. Unlike the U.S.

attorneys and the Federal judiciary, the Sentencing Commission

counts individual defendants more than once only if the

defendant was sentenced on more than one occasion. Therefore,

defendant counts reported by the Sentencing Commission are

typically lower than those reported by the U.S. attorneys and the

Federal judiciary.

Offenses committed

The Federal code defines hundreds of laws for which defendants

can be criminally prosecuted. While all agencies collect statutespecific offense data, data describing criminal statutes are

typically consolidated into more descriptive offense categories for

reporting or management purposes. Even though each agency

consolidates the Federal statutes using the same generic criteria,

like the substance of the offense (e.g., murder, fraud, and drugs),

the composition of these categories often varies by agency.

Unlike offense categories reported by the Federal judiciary, the

U.S. Sentencing Commission, and the Bureau of Prisons, those

reported by the U.S. attorneys are not based entirely on statutes.

The U.S. attorneys assign program categories and charges

according to the type of criminal action or specific departmental

initiative. For some offenses, particularly fraud offenses, the U.S.

attorneys’ program categories are more descriptive than the

offense categories used by other agencies. For example, an

offense charged under a specific fraud statute would be assigned

a program category by the U.S. attorneys that details a specific

type of fraud, e.g., health care fraud; or, an offense charged

under a weapons statute might be assigned a program category

that indicates Project Triggerlock if the defendant was a repeat

weapons offender.

The U.S. attorneys assign the most significant, or most serious,

offense in a manner that also differs from the Federal judiciary,

the Sentencing Commission, and the Bureau of Prisons. The U.S.

attorneys assign the most significant offense based on the priority

of a particular program category within the Department of Justice,

whereas the other agencies define the most significant offense

based on the offense statutory maximum (or, in the case of the

Bureau of Prisons, the actual sentence imposed).

Disposition and sentence imposed

Only the U.S. attorneys and the Federal judiciary report on 

the number of defendants in cases terminated during a given

reporting period. In describing the offenses for which defendants

were convicted, classification of the terminating offense differs by

agency. The U.S. attorneys report the original program category

assigned regardless of whether the defendant was convicted of

the charge associated with that program category. The other

agencies report the most serious offense for which the defendant

was actually adjudicated.

Each agency reports whether imprisonment or probation was

imposed and the duration of the term as well as whether a fine

and/or restitution was ordered. However, the reporting of

sentences imposed has a different priority within each agency.

For instance, in furtherance of its mission to promulgate the

Federal sentencing guidelines, the Commission collects the most

detailed data on sentences imposed and the mechanisms for

determining the sentence.

Bureau of Justice Statistics

Recognizing the incomparability of case processing statistics

across Federal agencies, in 1982, the Bureau of Justice Statistics

implemented the Federal Justice Statistics Program. The goals of

the Federal Justice Statistics Program are to provide uniform

case processing statistics across different stages of the Federal

criminal justice system and to track individual defendants from

one stage of the process to another. Using data obtained from

each of the Federal agencies, the Bureau of Justice Statistics

compiles comprehensive information describing individuals

processed in the Federal criminal justice system. Uniform

definitions are applied to commonly used statistics describing

data from each stage of the criminal justice process. Further,

because the definitions used in the Federal Justice Statistics

Program are consistent with the definitions used by other Bureau

of Justice Statistics programs, the comparison of Federal and

State case processing statistics is facilitated.

In addition to the reconciled statistics, the BJS publishes two

series of publications describing the Federal criminal justice

system: the Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, an annual

publication that describes events occurring in the Federal criminal

justice system, and a series of Special Reports addressing

specific aspects of the Federal criminal justice system, specific

offenses, or other special issues of interest.