(Rocky Hill, CT) - Chief State’s Attorney Patrick J. Griffin today announced the public launch of prosecutorial data reports on the Division of Criminal Justice’s website. The reports, now published as PDF files, will eventually be accessible through a real-time, automatically updated dashboard on the website.
This unprecedented initiative follows a yearlong effort by the Division to make prosecutorial data that pertains to the daily operations in Connecticut’s 13 judicial districts available to the public. The data will be used for analysis that will assist in identifying criminal justice trends, help inform the development and refinement of Division policies and procedures and ensure the proper allocation of resources.
Chief State’s Attorney Griffin will unveil the data reports during today’s meeting of the Criminal Justice Commission in which the Office of Policy and Management, in compliance with Public Act 19-59, presented their 2024 report. Public Act 19-59 put in place certain statutes requiring the Division, in consultation with other state entities, to annually collect and for OPM to analyze and report on prosecutor data to the Commission. This year’s analysis of 2023 data marked the first time since the law was passed in 2019 that OPM analyzed data provided exclusively to OPM through the Division and its eProsecutor digital case management system.
In compiling the 2024 report, OPM used the Division’s information from its case management system – not data from the state Judicial Branch - for its analysis. The new data reports, compiled by the Division’s Manager of Research and Planning Kyle Baudoin, bolster the Division’s continued efforts to take the lead in identifying data relating to the criminal justice system in Connecticut broadly and increasing transparency and insight into the prosecutorial function specifically.
“What we’ve done with the judicial district data reports is attempt to supplement the broad, general overview of the operations of the Division with an individualized view for each judicial district,” Chief State’s Attorney Griffin said. “This is the first time that the Division is testing the analytical capabilities of the case management system. The Division wants to play not just a passive role, but a leading role in identifying and analyzing prosecutorial data moving forward.”
Connecticut Supreme Court Associate Justice Andrew J. McDonald, who serves as chair of the Criminal Justice Commission, said the new data reports will be invaluable to the Commission in its deliberations regarding the selection of Connecticut’s State’s Attorneys.
“On behalf of the Criminal Justice Commission, I would like to commend Chief State’s Attorney Griffin and his team for creating, on their own initiative, what I believe are transformative reports that show the Division’s commitment toward greater transparency about its work,” Justice McDonald said. “These reports are the first step in communicating with the public about more granular data that will ultimately be analyzed and used to help the Division and stakeholders move toward a more fair and just criminal justice system.”
The Division’s data reports will give State’s Attorneys and the prosecutors working in their offices more information to help them manage their day-to-day actions and procedures and help them improve their understanding of case outcomes for similarly situated defendants. In addition, the data sheets meet the public’s demand for greater prosecutor accountability and impartiality as prosecutors work to respond effectively to challenges facing the communities in their judicial districts.
“These data reports are critical tools for the effective management of individual jurisdictions,” Chief State’s Attorney Griffin said. “The material contained in these reports is essential for the effective management of the judicial districts and essential for the Chief State’s Attorney as the chief administrative officer of this agency. These data sheets show the potential for analytical analysis beyond what was originally considered in Public Act 19-59, particularly at the local level. The possibilities are very exciting.”
To view the reports, click this link to the State's Attorney's Offices page and select a judicial district.