Caseweighting Systems for Prosecutors: Guidelines and Procedures

• NCJ Number: 109771
• Author(s): J Jacoby
• Date Published: 1987
• Length: 115 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ); US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Corporate Author: Abt Associates, Inc
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/NCJRS; National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Training (Aid/Material)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: From the National Institute of Justice Issues and Practices, October 1987.

Annotation

This booklet presents guidelines and procedures for the use of caseweighting systems as a prosecutorial management tool for determining how much work has to be done, the resources required to accomplish it, and how those resources should be allocated.

Abstract

Case weights are the levels of attorney effort required to process various types of cases through adjudication. Case weights can be developed for any activity that has varying levels of effort. Caseweighting systems are the ways case weights can be used and will vary according to their purpose. Caseweighting systems can take one of two basic forms. The first uses attorney hours or workload to support operational and management decisions. The second places a cost on the hours and is used for cost analysis. After discussing caseweighting systems in general, chapters present the guidelines and procedures for developing case weights. They are intended for the prosecutor's administrative and technical staff who would oversee the consultant's work in developing case weights, coordinate the project's requirements with the attorneys and administrative staff in the office, and ensure that the consultant's work satisfies the purposes for which the caseweighting systems are to be used. Chapters also present the work steps and procedures to be followed in bringing the project to successful completion. Separate chapters focus on the development of case weights based on attorney hours and those based on costs. Another chapter helps the consultant or agency avoid some of the pitfalls associated with comparing raw data; it presents a technique for adjusting data to make it comparable. The appendix presents the evidence on the reliability of self-reported data obtained from prosecutor and public defender logs. It also contains the FBI's NCIC uniform offense classification codes that may be helpful to officers in coding offenses, along with a methodological note for the evaluation of alternative costing procedures.