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1 Matthew R. Durose & Patrick A. Langan, Felony Sentences in State Courts, 2004 1 (2004)

handle is hein.agopinions/flnsciv0001 and id is 1 raw text is: U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs BJS This report is one in a series. More recent editions may be availe ble. To view a all in the se July 2007, NCJ 215646 National Judicial Revorting Program Felony Sentences in State Courts, 2004 By Matthew R. Durose and Patrick A. Langan, Ph.D. BJS Statisticians In 2004 State courts convicted an estimated 1,079,000 adults of a felony, a number about 24% higher than the 872,000 adults convicted in 1994. About a third of con- victed felons were drug offenders, and about 1 in 5 were violent offenders. Overall, between 1994 and 2004 the number of felons convicted of a violent offense in State courts rose 18% (from 165,000 to 195,000). Most serious conviction offense All offenses Violent offenses Property offenses Drug offenses Weapon offenses Other offenses Estimated number Persons convicted of a felony in State courts 1994 2004 100% 19 32 31 4 15 872,220 100% 18 29 34 3 17 1,078,920 During this 10-year period, the conviction rate for violent crimes also rose. For every 100 persons arrested for a vio- lent felony in 1994, an estimated 23 were convicted. In 2004, the rate was 31 persons convicted for every 100 per- sons arrested. Persons convicted of a felony were most likely to receive an incarceration sentence in 2004. Forty percent were sen- tenced to a period of confinement in State prison and 30% in local jail. An estimated 28% of convicted felons were sentenced to probation with no jail or prison time. The average sentence length to State prison for a violent felony declined between 1994 and 2004 (from 10 years to 7% years). However, felons sentenced for a violent felony in 2004 were more likely than those sentenced in 1994 to serve a larger proportion of their sentence before release. Between 1994 and 2004, the number of felony convictions in State courts increased 24% Number of persons convicted of a felony in State courts 1,200,000 1,000,000 Any felony 800,000 600,000 400,000 Violent felony 200,000 0 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 Among major findings on State court sentencing in 2004 - - 94% of felony convictions occurred in State courts, the remaining 6% in Federal courts. - 95% of convicted felons pleaded guilty, the remaining 5% were found guilty by a jury or judge. - The average sentence length for convicted felons to State prison was almost 5 years. - Females accounted for a quarter of felony property offenders. The findings in this report were almost exclusively based on the National Judicial Reporting Program, a survey that is conducted every 2 years and collects the only detailed information on sentences of convicted felons in State courts nationwide. Detailed data are available in State Court Sen- tencing of Convicted Felons, 2004 - Statistical Tables, located on the BJS web site at <http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ bjs/abstract/scscfst. htm>.

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