The data contain records of defendants in criminal cases filed in United States District Court before or during fiscal year 2011 and still pending as of year-end. The data were constructed from the Administrative Office of the United States District Courts' (AOUSC) criminal file. Defendants in criminal cases may be either individuals or corporations. There is one record for each defendant in each case filed. Included in the records are data from court proceedings and offense codes for up to five offenses charged at the time the case was filed. (The most serious charge at termination may differ from the most serious charge at case filing, due to plea bargaining or action of the judge or jury.) In a case with multiple charges against the defendant, a "most serious" offense charge is determined by a hierarchy of offenses based on statutory maximum penalties associated with the charges. The data file contains variables from the original AOUSC files as well as additional analysis variables, or "SAF" variables, that denote subsets of the data. These SAF variables are related to statistics reported in the Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics, Tables 4.1-4.5 and 5.1-5.6. Variables containing identifying information (e.g., name, Social Security number) were replaced with blanks, and the day portions of date fields were also sanitized in order to protect the identities of individuals. These data are part of a series designed by the Urban Institute (Washington, DC) and the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Data and documentation were prepared by the Urban Institute.

The purpose of this study was to provide a current listing of all felony courts in this country and to provide a universe from which a sample of courts could be selected based on felony caseload. The study includes information on all state felony courts in the United States, including the number of cases filed and disposed by conviction, acquittal, dismissal, or other means. Court administrators were asked to indicate the manner in which cases filed and disposed were counted, such as by defendant, charge, or indictment information. The total number of cases disposed during the period was also collected for juvenile delinquents and for traffic offenses (moving violations) where applicable. Finally, data were gathered on whether felonies reduced to misdemeanors were included in the felony count and whether lower courts in the jurisdiction accepted guilty pleas to felonies.

This data collection provides detailed comparative information about the structure, policies, and procedures of state-wide trial and appellate court systems for the 50 states and the District of Columbia within the United States for the years 1980, 1987, 1993, 1998, 2004, and 2011. Information gathered includes: the number of courts and judges, judicial selection, governance of court systems (including judicial funding, administration, staffing, and procedures), jury qualifications and verdict rules, and processing and sentencing procedures of criminal cases. Data collection was carried out by the National Center for State Courts.

The sentencing data presented in this report reflects the judgement imposed by the court on people that have been found guilty. The data is recorded by count, meaning by each individual cause of action, and each count receives a sentence. Included in this data set are the defendant counts by race and sentence, their associated offense type, and year.

The sentencing data presented in this report reflects the judgement imposed by the court on people that have been found guilty. The data is recorded by count, meaning by each individual cause of action, and each count receives a sentence. Included in this data set are the defendant counts by city/suburb and sentence, their associated offense type, and year.

The sentencing data presented in this report reflects the judgement imposed by the court on people that have been found guilty. The data is recorded by count, meaning by each individual cause of action, and each count receives a sentence. Included in this data set are the defendant counts by sentence and year.

The sentencing data presented in this report reflects the judgement imposed by the court on people that have been found guilty. The data is recorded by count, meaning by each individual cause of action, and each count receives a sentence. Included in this data set are the defendant counts by age and sentence, their associated offense type, and year.

The sentencing data presented in this report reflects the judgement imposed by the court on people that have been found guilty. The data is recorded by count, meaning by each individual cause of action, and each count receives a sentence. Included in this data set are the defendant counts by sentence, their associated offense type, and year.

The sentencing data presented in this report reflects the judgement imposed by the court on people that have been found guilty. The data is recorded by count, meaning by each individual cause of action, and each count receives a sentence. Included in this data set are the defendant counts by gender and sentence, their associated offense type, and year.