Conduct Data Capacity Interviews and Pilot Misdemeanor Courts Study

Misdemeanor Interview Guide

Part 1: Jurisdiction legal characteristics

Jurisdiction’s definition of a misdemeanor: ____________________________________________________________________

Maximum carceral sentence for misdemeanors: _____

Misdemeanors with > 1 year maximum sentence: _______________________________________________________________

Jailable non-DUI traffic offenses: ____________________________________________________________________________

How misdemeanor cases are charged:

Is there only one charge per case or are multiple charges per case permitted? _____

Can misdemeanor cases include multiple defendants? _______

Jurisdiction is part of single-tier court system? Multi-tier court system?

Jurisdiction has does not have municipal courts.

Part 2: Courts and other agencies involved in processing misdemeanors and where their case-level data are maintained

Determine what agencies are involved in processing misdemeanors in the jurisdiction and what repositories maintain the agency’s case-level data. For courts, determine whether there are multiple locations where case-level data exist – for example, a municipal court may have its own data system but also report case data to a county- or state-level court repository.

Agency Type	Name	Where is case-level data maintained or reported to?
Courts that handle jailable state law misdemeanors at the trial level
Courts that handle jailable municipal or county code misdemeanors
Other courts that handle jailable misdemeanors
Courts that handle felonies at the trial level
Agencies that make arrests and/or issue citations/summonses for jailable misdemeanors
Agencies that prosecute state-law misdemeanors
Agencies that prosecute municipal- and county-code misdemeanors
Agencies that provide legal representation to the indigent
Agencies that provide pre-trial supervision and other services
Agencies that maintain bond records
Agencies that hold pre-trial detainees
Agencies that maintain criminal history records

Part 3a: Records in the _____ (name) _______database

Does your database have electronic case-level information on:

Jailable misdemeanors filed? all ____; all except ________________; only __________________________

Filed at which courts? ________________________

Jailable misdemeanors adjudicated? all ____; all except ________________; only ____________________

Adjudicated at which courts? ___________________

Currently open jailable misdemeanor cases? all ____; all except _____________; only ___________________

Open at which courts? ________________________

Persons detained pre-trial following arraignment? all ____; all except _____________; only ___________________

Arraigned at which courts? ____________________

Other case-level data pertaining to misdemeanor processing? ________________________________________

What years are covered in your database (how far back do the cases go)? ______

Are there major data quality concerns or other issues with data of a certain age? ________________________

To your knowledge, are there common unique identifiers that would allow for linking your records to records held by other agencies involved in processing misdemeanors (arresting agencies, prosecutors, courts, pre-trial services, jails)? ___________

Are cases that begin in one court identifiable or trackable when transferred to another court (bindover)?

Part 3b: Availability of individual data elements in the _____ (name) _______ database

Determine whether the data repository has the following case-level / individual-level information and if so in what format and if there are any major data quality concerns about the data element.

Category	Data Element	Format (structured / unstructured1)	Available on agency website?	Major data quality concerns?	Don’t have
General Case Information	Jurisdiction identifier
	Court identifier
	Court case identifier2
Defendant Information	Unique defendant identifier3
	Name
	Date of birth/Age
	Defendant’s home ZIP code
	Sex
	Ethnicity
	Race
	Citizenship / immigration status
Initial appearance and charges	Initiating action (summons, arrest, etc.)
	Offense date
	Arrest date
	Indicators of prior arrests, prior convictions, detainers, outstanding warrants, whether on probation or parole at time of arrest
	Indicators of prior arrest/conviction severity (e.g., misdemeanor or felony record)
	Charge filing date
	Initial appearance date
	Filing charges			e.g., only broad categories
	Indigency status for court-appointed counsel
	Indicator of a concurrent felony charge
Pretrial Release	Pretrial release decision
	Bond amount and type
	Bond amount paid and date
	Pretrial services supervision indicator
	Pretrial detention dates
	Failure(s) to appear
	Indicators of whether pretrial misconduct occurred leading to revocation of order of release (y/n) and type of misconduct (new arrest, technical violation)
	Bond revocation date and reason
Disposition and sentencing	Whether defendant represented by attorney at disposition/ sentencing; type of attorney (appointed or retained); and, if no representation, reason no counsel present (i.e., waiver or court’s refusal to appoint)
	Charges at adjudication			e.g., only broad categories
	Disposition date and type
	Sentence date and type
	Deferred adjudication type, outcome, and ultimate disposition date

Part 3c: Repository’s ability to share case-level with BJS

Can your case management system generate case-level data extracts? For example:

For courts or prosecutor offices:

Does your system allow for exporting details of all misdemeanors

filed in a date range? ______

adjudicated in a date range? ______

For jails:

Does your system allow for exporting details of all persons

held pretrial in a date range? ______

released pretrial in a date range, including the method and conditions of release?

Has your agency ever provided case-level data to another agency? ______

Which one(s)? ____________

How recently? ______

Formatting and parameters of the data: ______________________________

Could your agency provide to BJS:

Case level data that contains no personal identifiers? _____

Case level data that contains personal identifiers (e.g., name, DOB)? ____

Case level data that contains unique personal identifiers (e.g., State ID #) that could be used to link to another agency’s records? ______

Case level data on cases that have not yet been adjudicated? ______

Are there any limitations to any of these? ________________________________________________

If data are provided without PII (no name or DOB) could age at contact, race/ethnicity, and sex still be provided?

Whether data are provided with PII or without PII, will the data shared include expunged cases? _______ Or, are expunged cases no longer available to be shared for research purposes?__________

What processes does your agency have in place for sharing data with other agencies? __________________________________

Do you have any preferred process for BJS to follow to request the data? ______________________________________________

Are data requests vetted by an internal or external research review committee? ______________________

Are they known to reject applications? ___________ What are the typical reasons for rejection? ___________________

Would a Data Use Agreement be required to share the data with BJS? _____

How long would this take to execute? _____

Does requesting data without PII result in time savings throughout the process?

What are the biggest challenges to providing case-level data to BJS or any other requestor? _______________________________

What could BJS do to decrease the challenges in providing data? ___________________

Are there any times that it is easier (or harder) to respond to data requests? ____________

Thank you for your time and cooperation.

1 Structured = in a database; unstructured = on a docket sheet or otherwise unavailable in electronic format.

2 Potential linking variable

3 Potential linking variable