Case Resolution

This section presents data on all cases prosecuted by the District Attorney's (DA) Office that have reached a final resolution (a case disposition). Cases can be resolved in a variety of ways, including by dismissal, diversion, deferred judgment, guilty plea, or by acquittal or guilty verdict at trial. Successful diversion completions will be categorized as dismissals, for more information on diversion please see the Diversion and Deferrals section.

Why is this important? It is important to review how cases are resolved to ensure we are addressing serious crime effectively while minimizing unnecessary punitiveness.

Indicators

Below are a set of indicators that provide additional context about case resolutions. These indicators help the DA's Office ensure they are achieving outcomes efficiently, effectively, and fairly.

Our aim is to achieve racial/ethnic equity in plea outcomes to ensure that cases receive fair treatment. However, factors such as type of charge, number of charges, number of active cases per defendant, and criminal history impact plea outcomes for every defendant. See our disparity analysis for a more detailed look at differences by race/ethnicity while taking into account potential differences in defendant and case characteristics.

Click Here for more information about race and ethnicity data collection and limitations.

Our office transferred to a new case management system in February of 2020, therefore data on timeliness is only reliable starting in 2020. We strive to have cases that are resolvable to resolve as quickly as possible for the benefit of the victim, defendant, and the community. Notably, case timelines are calculated based on when a case is filed with the court versus when a defendant first appears in court and are impacted by failures to appear, which have increased since COVID. These numbers will continue to be monitored, especially in light of COVID case backlogs, with the hope that we see the number of days to resolution decline.

The ABA Standards provide a helpful baseline of timeliness, but do not necessarily represent a benchmark that takes into account Colorado law and practices for resolving cases (e.g. court appearances such as advisement, filing of charges, and preliminary hearings/status conferences that are set before a case is set for arraignment and plea).

Cases that should be dismissed because they cannot be proven should be dismissed as soon as that assessment is done. These numbers will continue to be monitored and should be minimized, but the COVID impact on cases is particularly noticeable in this graph as cases that did not/could not resolve during COVID had to be reassessed for provability (witness and victim availability, etc.) at trial after long delays.

Based on the procedures in Boulder County, most felony cases will have 3 or 4 hearings prior to resolution (advisement, filing of charges, preliminary hearing/status conference, and arraignment). Additionally, comparing this to the Time to Felony Resolution graph seems to indicate that the amount of time between hearings has increased in the last two years.

Notes

Underlying data counts for each chart can be accessed through this link.
Each case is reflected by its top disposition. For example, if a charge on a case is dismissed as a part of plea negotiations and another charge on the case is plead guilty, the case will be reflected here as a “plead guilty.”
The charge level represents the most serious charge filed in a case.
Warrants are excluded (for all cases identified as a warrant)..
Cases disposed with a disposition reason “deceased defendant” are excluded from case resolution related charts.
Hearings that occurred after case resolution (for e.g., if a defendant was on probation or returned to court for some reason after the case was disposed) are excluded from the average number of hearings per case.