U.S. Department of Justice Revised, 7/1/02 th Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin May 2002, NCJ 193441 National Survey of Prosecutors Prosecutors in State Courts, 2001 By Carol J. DeFrances, Ph.D. BJS Statistician Highlights Full-Full and part-time prosecutors, by county in the United States, 2001 In 2001, 2,341 prosecutors' offices handled felony cases in State courts of general jurisdiction. These offices employed over 79,000 attorneys, investigators, victim advocates, and support staff, with a median annual budget of $318,000. Over 40% of the offices had experience prosecuting a computer-related crime, and 68% used DNA evidence either during plea negotiations or felony trials. Over three-fourths of chief prosecutors were employed full-time in 2001 compared to half in 1990. These are findings from the 2001 National Survey of Prosecutors (NSP), Chief prosecutors Full-time which was a census of all chief prose- Part-time cutors that tried felony cases in State courts of general jurisdiction.1 The census did not include municipal attor- neys or county attorneys who primarily operate in courts of limited jurisdiction. This is the second report based on • Over the past decade prosecutors’ • Over the 12 months preceding the results from the 2001 NSP that offices nationwide, on average, experi- 2001 survey, 42% of prosecutors’ describes how the role of the State enced increases in their staff size, offices reported prosecuting either court prosecutor has changed over budget for prosecutorial functions, felony or misdemeanor computer- the past decade.2 and population served. related crimes under their State’s computer statutes. 1The 1990, 1992, 1994, and 1996 NSP data • In 2001 chief prosecutors were much collections surveyed a nationally representative sample of chief prosecutors that tried felony more likely to serve in a full-time • Two-thirds of prosecutors’ offices cases in State courts of general jurisdiction. capacity than 10 years ago. used DNA evidence during plea 2State Court Prosecutors in Large Districts, 2001, negotiations or felony trials in 2001 NCJ 191206, available from the BJS website at • The percentage of prosecutors' compared to about half of the offices http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs. offices prosecuting felonies related to in 1996. domestic violence, child abuse, and bank or thrift fraud increased in 2001 • In 2001 about 23% of prosecutors’ compared to 1994, when similar data offices assigned prosecutors to handle were collected. community-related activities. A chief prosecutor is the elected or 80% in 1990. Half of all prosecutors' Staffing in prosecutors' offices appointed attorney advocating for the offices served a district with a popula- public in felony cases and in a variety tion of 36,000 or less. Seventy-five In 2001 the Nation's prosecutors' of generally less serious offenses. percent of all offices served a district offices employed a workforce of over Office titles for chief prosecutors with a population of less than 100,000, 79,000 full and part-time staff, including include district attorney, prosecuting and 5% served a district with a popula- assistant prosecutors, supervisory attorney, county attorney, common- tion of 500,000 or more. attorneys, investigators, victim advo- wealth attorney, and state's attorney cates, and support staff (table 1). (Appendix). State law determines the The size of prosecutorial districts This total represented an increase of number of chief prosecutors and varied considerably among the 2,341 39% from 1992 and 13% from 1996. whether they are elected or appointed. offices. This report provides informa- Support staff, including administrative Texas had the largest number of chief tion for all offices and by size of staff and clerical staff, comprised 35% prosecutors (155), followed by Virginia jurisdiction: of total staff, and assistant prosecutors, (120) and Missouri (115). Except for including supervisory attorneys, made • A full-time office in a large jurisdiction Alaska, Connecticut, the District of up 34%. The number of assistant pro- refers to an office with a full-time chief Columbia, and New Jersey, in 2001 secutors, including supervisory attor- prosecutor serving a prosecutorial chief prosecutors were elected. neys, grew to nearly 27,000 in 2001, an district with a population of 1 million increase of 35% since 1990 and 12% or more. In Alaska, Delaware, and Rhode Island since 1996 (not shown in a table). criminal prosecution was the primary • A full-time office in a medium jurisdic- responsibility of the State's Attorney tion refers to an office with a full-time Over the past 10 years, the number General. In the District of Columbia chief prosecutor serving a district with of assistant prosecutors (including the United States Attorney had jurisdic- a population between 250,000 to supervisory attorneys) per 100,000 tion over adult felony and misde- 999,999. residents kept pace with population meanor cases. growth. The rate per 100,000 resi- • A full-time office in a small jurisdiction dents was 10 in 2001, compared to 9 Most chief prosecutors served prose- refers to a full-time chief prosecutor in 1996. Overall, the ratio of assistant cutorial districts comprised of one or serving a district with a population less prosecutors (including supervisory more counties (not shown in a table). than 250,000. attorneys) to investigators was 3.6 In 2001, 85% of chief prosecutors • A part-time office has a part-time attorneys to 1 investigator, to victim served a prosecutorial district com- chief prosecutor serving a prosecutorial advocates 5.9 to 1, and to support staff prised of one county compared to district of any size.3 members 1 to 1. Between 1990 and 3 2001, the percentage of prosecutors' The full- and part-time categories used in offices with at least one full-time assis- Table 1. Distribution of personnel this report are comparable to the categories used in Prosecutors in State Courts, 1996, tant prosecutor increased from 50% for prosecutors’ offices, 2001 NCJ 170092. to 65%. Percent of total personnel in prosecutors’ offices Table 2. Median staff size in prosecutors’ offices, by personnel categories, 2001 Total 100% Median for prosecutors' offices Chief prosecutor 3.0% Full-time offices (population served) Assistant prosecutors 30.5 Large Medium Small Civil attorneys 2.4 All (1,000,000 (250,000 (under Supervisory attorneysa 3.5 offices or more) to 999,999) 250,000) Part-time b Managers 1.8 Total staff sizea 9 456 112 10 3 Victim advocates 5.8 Legal services personnelc 5.2 Assistant prosecutors 2 151 36 3 1 Staff investigatorsd 9.4 Civil attorneysb 0 4 0 0 0 Support staffe 34.9 Supervisory attorneysc 0 21 5 0 0 Other 3.7 Managersd 0 5 1 0 0 Victim advocates 1 16 6 1 0 Number of personnel 79,436 Legal services personnele 0 22 3 0 0 Note: Detail may not sum to 100% due to Staff investigatorsf 0 43 9 0 0 g rounding. Data on types of personnel were Support staff 3 145 35 3 1 available for 2,243 prosecutors’ offices and Number of offices 2,341 34 194 1,581 532 estimated for 98 offices. (See Methodology, Note: Data on types of personnel were available for 2,243 prosecutors’ offices page 10.) and estimated for 98 offices. (See Methodology, page 10.) aAttorneys in managerial positions who aIncludes the chief prosecutor. litigate cases. b18% of prosecutors' offices employed part- or full-time civil attorneys. bAttorneys or nonattorneys in primarily mana- cAttorneys in managerial positions who litigate cases. gerial positions who do not litigate cases. d c Attorneys or nonattorneys in primarily managerial positions who do not litigate cases. Includes law clerks and paralegals. e d Includes law clerks and paralegals. Includes investigators on contract. f e Includes investigators on contract. Includes administrative staff, clerical staff, gIncludes administrative staff, clerical staff, computer personnel and fiscal officers. computer personnel and fiscal officers. 2 Prosecutors in State Courts, 2001 Revised, 7/1/02 th In 2001 half the entering assistant Half of the chief prosecutors in full-time Attorney recruitment and retention prosecutors earned $35,000 or more medium size offices served 8.4 years in prosecutors' offices a year; half the full-time assistant or more. The longest tenure reported prosecutors with 5 years' experience, by a survey respondent was 40 years. Almost a third of offices had experi- $45,000 or more; and half the supervi- enced problems with recruiting or sory attorneys, $60,000 or more. Half of all offices reported that the chief retaining staff attorneys (not shown About 8% of the total staff worked part prosecutor earned $85,000 per year or in a table). Fifty-nine percent of full- time in 2001. In offices with a part-time more. About 29% of chief prosecutors time medium offices and 46% of full- chief prosecutor, 40% of staff worked earned $100,000 or more per year. In time large offices reported problems full time. general, the amount of annual salary of recruiting new staff attorneys varied by the size of the prosecutorial compared to 33% of full-time small The median total staff size across all district served and whether the chief offices and 12% of part-time offices. offices was nine, including the chief prosecutor was full or part-time. The Similarly, over 60% of full-time large prosecutor (table 2). Half of the offices median salary for chief prosecutors and medium offices indicated a reported two or more assistant prose- in full-time large offices was $136,700; problem of retaining staff attorneys, cutors, one or more victim advocates, for full-time medium offices, $115,000; while 31% of full-time small offices and and three or more support staff.