SUPPORTING STATEMENT
A. JUSTIFICATION
1. Necessity of Information Collection
Under Title 42, United States Code, Section 3732 (Attachment A), the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is authorized to collect and analyze statistical information regarding the operation of the criminal justice system at the Federal, state, and local levels. An essential component of the criminal justice system is the prosecutorial system.
The National Survey of Prosecutors (NPS) was first conducted in 1990. This continuing data collection provides a national picture of prosecutors who try felony cases in state courts. In addition, factors analyzed by NPS directly influence the Nation's response to crime. Beginning with the 1996 data collection, BJS obtained information on relevant issues such as civil actions against prosecutors, juvenile matters, and prosecutors as community leaders. A complete census was last conducted in 2001.
2. Needs and Uses
The National District Attorneys Association (NDAA), the American
Prosecutors Research Institute (APRI), and general public expressed a need for this information. The data collected will be used to provide national estimates of prosecutorial decision making throughout all phases of prosecution. If the data are not collected, a serious gap will exist in our knowledge of the criminal justice system. Users of the data include the following:
National District Attorneys Association
American Prosecutors Research Institute
Department of Justice
State Court Prosecutor Offices
The results of the 2005 national survey were presented in the BJS publication,
Prosecutors in State Courts, 2005 Data for the 2001 and 2005 surveys were widely distributed and specific presentations were provided to a variety of criminal justice related meetings and conferences.
3. Use of Information Technology
BJS estimates the data collection burden remains at 30 minutes per respondent and provides for the respondent to submit the data through mail canvass reporting or by fax. Personal telephone interviews will be conducted for nonrespondents. BJS will develop a web-based data collection instrument to offer respondents an electronic response option.
4. Efforts to Identify Duplication
There is no duplicative effort based on the programmatic nature of this survey. The information sought is not attainable from any other data source. BJS has coordinated this project with the National Institute of Justice that supports research regarding prosecution in the justice system.
5. Minimizing Burden on Small Businesses
Not Applicable. No information will be gathered from any small businesses.
6. Consequences of Not Conducting or less frequent Collection
This data collection is the only source of national data on prosecutors’ offices. There are no other government or private agencies that provide information on the number of assistant prosecutors, number of criminal and felony caseload, and budgets for prosecutorial functions. Not conducting this survey, or conducting it less frequently, would result in the use of outdated information for resource management decisions and program planning. If the survey was conducted less frequently, we would not be able to keep pace with the changing profile of State court prosecutors offices.
7. Special Circumstances
This data will be collected in a manner consistent with the guidelines in 5CFR 1320.6.
8. Public Comments and Consultations
BJS has consulted with the National District Attorneys Association (NDAA), the American Prosecutors Research Institute (APRI), National Institute of Justice (NIJ), and with various members of the criminal justice community regarding the content, data availability, and the clarity of instructions. Consultants included the following:
(1) M. Elaine Nugent
Director of Research
American Prosecutors Research Institute
99 Canal Center Plaza
Suite 510
Alexandria, VA 22314
(703) 549-4253
(2) Kim Norris
National Institute of Justice
810 Seventh Street, NW
Washington, DC 20531
(202) 616-4648
9. Provision of Payments or Gifts to Respondents
Not Applicable. The Bureau will not provide any payment or gift of any type to respondents. Respondents participate on a voluntarily basis.
10. Assurance of Confidentiality
The data will be obtained from public agencies and are, therefore, in the public domain and not legally subject to confidential guarantees. All identifiable information are not made available for public use. The data is edited to remove identifiable information prior to release to the public. In addition, respondents are informed that survey participation is voluntary.
11. Justification for Sensitive Questions
The 2007 National Census of State Court Prosecutors focuses on publicly available agency level information, which is not considered sensitive.
12. Estimate of Respondent's Burden
In an effort to minimize respondent's burden, the 2007 National Survey of Prosecutors, uses the latest in form design and function, with the number of items on the questionnaire kept to a minimum. BJS has also attempted to minimize the complexity of questions and included definitions that conform to prosecutorial office norms.
The NCSP-07 form will be sent to approximately 2400 prosecutors offices in the United States. The average time required for each office is a half hour (30 minutes) to review instructions, definitions, gather information, and complete the instrument. The total respondent burden is estimated at 1200 hours. The estimated respondent burden in hours was derived from past experience with the National Survey of Prosecutors data collections and a review of the proposed information collection instrument.
We estimate respondent's burden for this data collection as follows:
Reporting Method Number of Number of
Time Respondents Responses Average
July 07- Jan. 2008 Mail canvass 2400 .5 hour
Total report 1200 hours
The response burden increased for this data collection as a result of the increased number of respondent, but the time required to complete instruments remains the same.
13. Estimate of Cost Burden
We do not expect respondents to incur any costs other than that of their time to respond. The information requested is of the type and scope normally carried in their records and no special hardware or accounting software or system is necessary to provide information for this data collections. Respondents are not expected to incur any capital, start-up, or system maintenance costs in responding.
14. Cost to Federal Government
The total annual cost to the Federal government is estimated at $43,355 all to be incurred by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Office costs are based on 6 months full-time work of a GS-13/03 Statistician salary ($84,691) and benefits (30 percent of salary) and per employee administrative costs of the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
The estimated cost to the Federal Government for this data collection is based on the following:
Office Costs (BJS)
Salary (1 GS12/04 for 6 months, full-time) $42,345
Benefit (30% of salary for 6 months) 12,704
Data Collection [Contractor] 283,963
Grand Total $339,012
15. Reason for Change in Burden
We are submitting this form for clearance due to the reduction in the number of questions and to collect data from all Prosecutor offices versus a sample as conduct in 2005. The prior OMB clearance number for the 2005 data collection remains valid. The new data collection enables us to obtain a better understanding of the role of prosecutors and the challenges facing them. Although content of the form has reduced, the respondents' burden increased to accommodate all offices. BJS does not anticipate an increase in burden on the individual respondents. The overall burden level will increase in the 2007 National Census of State Court Prosecutors as it is a complete enumeration of all 2400 offices in contrast to the sample of 310 offices conducted in 2005.
BJS conducted the first complete enumeration of state court prosecutors offices in 2001. The census collection allowed data for each of the approximately 2300 offices to be displayed in an on-line interactive program. Users were able to quickly identify districts of interest and access relevant data. BJS intends to update this Web-based capability with data from the 2007 census. A sample of offices would not permit an updating for all the offices.
Summary of Content Changes to the 2007 NCSP include:
A. Subjects added to the 2005 NSP include:
1. Identity theft
B. Subjects Deleted from the 2007 NCSP include:
1. Juvenile related matters deleted due to the variability in processing methods.
2. Homeland Security section replaced by specific case related question.
16. Publication Plan and Schedule
Planning and preparation June 2007 - July 2007
Data collection August 2007 - February 2008
Data processing/analysis February 2008 - March 2008
Publication release July 2008
Data release to public August 2008
17. Display of Expiration Date
The expiration date for NCSP-07 will be shown on the survey form.
18. Exception to the Certification Statement
None. There are no exceptions identified in Item 19, “ Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submission,” of OMB Form 83-I.
| File Type | application/octet-stream |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 0000-00-00 |