BJS FY 08 State Court Processing Statistics

The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is seeking proposals to administer the State Court Processing Statistics Project (SCPS) project. SCPS is a recurring data collection involving the compilation of felony cases processed in a sample of state courts in the nation's 75 most populous counties. Historically, the data collected have included current arrest charges, demographic characteristics, prior arrests and convictions, criminal justice status at arrest, type of pretrial release or detention, bail amount, court appearance record, adjudication outcome, and sentence received if convicted. In fiscal year 2008, BJS awarded funds to redesign and re-conceptualize the SCPS project. The redesign examines the utility and feasibility of several proposed changes to the data collection instrument and the sampling framework, and will result in a number of recommendations to enhance the existing collection. The redesign work is expected to be completed by July 2009. The current solicitation will provide an opportunity to begin initiating certain aspects of the SCPS redesign. The recipient of this award will administer the data collection for felony cases processed in the nation's 75 most populous counties, and collaborate with BJS to finalize and implement additional enhancements to the collection as recommended by the redesign work. Applicants are encouraged to review previous BJS reports using SCPS data available on the BJS website at . BJS anticipates making one award for a 24-month period under this solicitation, with an award date on or after September 30, 2009. BJS is authorized to issue this solicitation under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Street Act of 1968, Section 302, as amended.