Chapter 7 Criminal Justice Process and Methodology

In order to draw insights from our court records, analysts must have an understanding of how people move through the justice system. This section provides an overview of the main stages in the justice process and definitions of commonly-used terms. Though we can’t cover everything, having a basic grasp of the steps in the process is crucial to wrap your head around what you’re seeing in the administrative records we study.

7.1 Criminal cases

Criminal cases occur when the government (in our case, the State of Oklahoma) files criminal charges against a specific person or people. If a law enforcement officer observes the alleged offense, the suspect may be given a citation (for minor misdemeanors) or arrested at the time of observation; if the alleged offense is reported to law enforcement, the arrest may happen days or weeks after the offense. Either way, the arrest or citation starts the justice process outlined below in motion.

7.1.1 Defining criminal a case

In criminal courts, we count all the charges against a single defendant on a given day as a “case.” A single case number assigned by a court involving charges against three individuals would count as three cases in our research. This is in keeping with the methodology of other criminal justice research organizations, and helps to standardize different case numbering procedures across the state.

7.1.2 Criminal case flowchart

Different stages in the justice process are captured in different data sources in our database. The boxes in the flowchart below reflect which data source we use to study that aspect of the process.

Criminal Justice Flowchart

7.1.3 Glossary

  • ADA: Assistant District Attorney. ADAs prosecute the vast majority of cases, except for the usually major and high-profile cases prosecuted by the elected District Attorney.

  • Conviction: Charges to which a defendant pleads guilty or is found guilty at trial are listed as “convictions.”

  • DA: District Attorney, the county office that prosecutes criminal cases.

  • DA supervision: A person who is convicted or on a deferred prosecution may be placed under the supervision of the District Attorney’s office. The procedures around this vary greatly from county to county.

  • Deferred: A charge disposition may be listed as “deferred,” referring to a deferred prosecution. This allows the defendant to avoid a conviction if they plead guilty and complete a period of time on supervision without new offenses or technical violations. If they have no issues, their charges are dismissed and the case is expunged (removed from public record). If they are charged with further offenses, deferred may be accelerated to a conviction, as in this case.

  • Dismissed (with costs): A defendant’s charges can be listed as “dismissed” or “dismissed with costs,” meaning the charges are disposed without a conviction. Even if a charge is dismissed, the judge can order the defendant to pay court fees that would have been imposed if they were convicted.

  • DOC: The Oklahoma Department of Corrections.

  • Fines and fees: A fine is a monetary punishment imposed by a judge when a criminal charge is disposed as a conviction or deferral. By contrast, fees are imposed to recoup costs incurred by the government as part of a case. While fines are only imposed by courts, various agencies in the process impose fees:

    • Jail fees: County jails impose jail fees, usually a set amount (often around $50) per day the person stays in jail. For long stays, these can add up to thousands of dollars. These fees are usually collected by the county sheriff; some counties record these in court records (see the minute 2021-07-20 here). These can be imposed and collected even if a person is not convicted of anything.
    • Court fines and fees: In addition to fines collected by the court, dozens of fees are collected for the operation of the courts and various executive agencies. For more information on these, read our report from 2017, The Cost Trap.
    • DOC supervision fees: A monthly fee of $40 is imposed upon people who are on parole or probation and supervised by DOC. These fees do not appear in any public data source, but we have requested and received data from DOC on these fees in the past.
    • DA supervision fees: A monthly fee of $40 is imposed upon people who are on DA supervision. These fees do not appear in any public data source, but we have requested and received data from the District Attorneys Council on these fees in the past.
    • 991 fees: A monthly fee of $40 can be imposed by the prosecuting District Attorney’s office upon people who are convicted but not on supervision. These fees last two years as “prosecution fees.”
    • Drug court/specialty court fees: People enrolled in drug court, or other specialty courts and diversion programs, are charged various fees for their participation.

  • Imprisonment: Imprisonment refers to people convicted of felonies who are held in DOC facilities.

  • Incarceration: Incarceration may refer to detention in either a jail (before or after conviction) or prison (after conviction of a felony). We use incarceration to refer to both jail and prison unless otherwise specified. When referring to prisons only, use imprisonment; for jail only, use jailed or incarcerated in jails.

  • Parole: Parole is a type of community supervision for people after a stay in prison. After completing a certain percentage of their prison sentence (between 25% and 85%, depending on the offense), a person may be released from prison and be supervised by DOC in the community. During this period, the person must follow certain guidelines and meet regularly with their parole officer. A person on parole may have their supervision revoked if they are charged with new offenses while they are under supervision, or if they receive one or more technical violations like a positive drug test or a missed meeting with their probation officer. A person on parole can be readmitted to prison without additional action by the court.

  • Probation: Probation is a type of community supervision under DOC, usually given instead of incarceration. During this period, the person must follow certain guidelines and meet regularly with their probation officer. A person on probation may have their supervision revoked if they are charged with new offenses while they are under supervision, or if they receive one or more technical violations like a positive drug test or a missed meeting with their parole officer. If the revocation is successful in court, the person is admitted to prison.

  • Revoked/revocation: A person under probation or parole may have their supervision revoked by the state and are sent to prison to serve their sentence.

  • Split sentence: In a split sentence, a defendant is given a period of imprisonment followed by a period of probation at the time of conviction. This may be described in court records as, for example (in the CONVICTED minute 2021-08-18) here, “12 years with all suspended but the first two years.”

  • Suspended: A person who is convicted of a felony may be sentenced to prison but have all or part of their incarceration suspended for a period of time. When all time is suspended, the person is under supervision for the duration or their sentence or until their supervision is revoked.

  • Technical violation: A person who is under supervision must comply with various regulations in order to avoid being sent to prison, like passing monthly drug tests, applying for jobs, and meeting with their supervising officer. Any violation of these rules (more on these found here) is called a technical violation and can result in a revocation. A person may also be revoked if they are charged with another offense, but a new offense is not a technical violation.