Methodology

How we analyze New York criminal court data

Data Source

All data comes from the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) Pretrial Release Data. This public dataset contains records of criminal cases processed through New York's court system. We analyze records from 2019–2024 across all 62 New York counties — covering every county in the state, from the five boroughs of New York City to rural upstate communities.

Charge Categorization

Charges are categorized by matching the statute prefix in each record to the corresponding section of New York law. Penal Law charges (PL) are mapped to categories like Assault, Larceny, Drug Possession, and Burglary based on the article and section number. Vehicle and Traffic Law charges (VTL) are mapped separately, with DWI offenses (VTL 1192) receiving their own category. This statute prefix matching allows us to group related charges and compute meaningful aggregate statistics.

Disposition Mapping

Case dispositions from the DCJS data are mapped to standardized outcome categories:

  • Dismissed: Cases where charges were dismissed, declined to prosecute, or otherwise terminated without a conviction — including adjournments in contemplation of dismissal (ACD)
  • Convicted: Cases resulting in a guilty plea or guilty verdict at trial
  • Other: Cases with outcomes that don't clearly fall into dismissed or convicted categories, including cases still pending or with administrative dispositions

What We Measure

Dismissal Rate: The percentage of resolved cases where charges were dismissed. A dismissed case means the charges were dropped or the case was otherwise terminated without a conviction.

Conviction Rate: The percentage of resolved cases resulting in a guilty plea or guilty verdict at trial.

Case Duration: Days from arraignment date to disposition date. We report the median (middle value) and the P25–P75 range (middle 50% of cases).

Agency Statistics: For each law enforcement agency with sufficient case volume, we compute case dismissal rates and compare them to the county average.

Bail & Demographics

The DCJS Pretrial Release Data includes bail-related fields (bail set, bail type, release status) and demographic information (age, gender, race/ethnicity). We use bail data to provide context on pretrial detention patterns by charge and county. Demographic data is used only in aggregate to identify potential disparities in case outcomes — we never publish individual-level demographic information.

What We Don't Do

  • We never publish individual defendant names or case details
  • We do not predict outcomes or provide legal advice
  • We do not access sealed or restricted records
  • We do not analyze demographic data for individual pages (aggregate only)

Why Multi-Year Data Matters

Criminal court outcomes are shaped by structural factors — judicial temperament, prosecutorial policy, local defense bar culture, and statutory sentencing guidelines — that evolve slowly over time. New York's bail reform laws (effective January 2020, with subsequent amendments) significantly changed pretrial practices. Our 2019–2024 dataset captures both the pre-reform baseline and post-reform patterns, providing a comprehensive view of how counties adapted to these changes.

A county with a 40% dismissal rate for DWI cases across six years of data is far more informative than a single month's snapshot. These patterns help defendants and attorneys understand the landscape they're working within.

Geographic Coverage

We cover all 62 counties in New York State. This includes the five New York City boroughs (New York/Manhattan, Kings/Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, and Richmond/Staten Island), suburban counties (Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland), and all upstate counties. Each county page reflects the specific courts and agencies operating in that jurisdiction.

Limitations

  • Statistics reflect historical patterns and do not guarantee future outcomes
  • Data may include cases under appeal or with pending motions
  • Agency name matching is approximate (same agency name = same agency within county)
  • DCJS data may not capture all case outcomes, particularly for cases transferred between jurisdictions
  • New York's bail reform (2020) and subsequent amendments may affect trend analysis across the full date range
  • We require a minimum case threshold to generate statistics for any page

Updates

Data was last refreshed in December 2024. We plan to update the database as new DCJS records become available.