[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 11 (Tuesday, January 19, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2888-2889]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-768]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Office of Justice Programs

[OMB Number 1121-0306]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; 
Comments Requested

ACTION: 60-Day notice of information collection under review: 
Reinstatement, with change, of a previously approved collection for 
which approval has expired, State Court Processing Statistics 2009.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of 
Justice Statistics, will be submitting the following information 
collection request for review and clearance in accordance with the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The proposed information collection is 
published to obtain comments from the public and affected agencies. 
Comments are encouraged and will be accepted for ``sixty days'' until 
March 22, 2010. This process is conducted in accordance with 5 CFR 
1320.10.
    If you have additional comments, especially on the estimated public 
burden or associated response time, suggestions, or need a copy of the 
proposed information collection instrument with instructions or 
additional information, please contact: Thomas H. Cohen, (202) 514-
8344, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Office of Justice Programs, 
Department of Justice, 810 Seventh Street, NW., Washington, DC 20531 or 
[email protected].
    Written comments and suggestions from the public and affected 
agencies concerning the proposed collection of information are 
encouraged. Your comments should address one or more of the following 
four points:

--Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary 
for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including 
whether the information will have practical utility;
--Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the

[[Page 2889]]

proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
--Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be 
collected; and
--Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are 
to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic 
submission of responses.

Overview of This Information

    (1) Type of information collection: Reinstatement, with change, of 
a previously approved collection for which OMB approval has expired, 
State Court Processing Statistics, 2009.
    (2) The title of the form/collection: State Court Processing 
Statistics, 2009.
    (3) The agency form number, if any, and the applicable component of 
the Department sponsoring the collection: The form labels are SCPS--
2009, SATCS--2009, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Office of Justice 
Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.
    (4) Affected Public Who Will be Asked or Required to Respond, as 
well as a Brief Abstract: State Trial Courts and Pretrial Agencies. 
Abstract: The State Court Processing Statistics (SCPS) project covers 
felony case processing in a sample of the nation's 75 most populous 
counties on a recurring basis. In the SCPS data collection program, 
felony defendants are tracked for up to 1 year with data collected on a 
variety of felony case processing characteristics. These include the 
types of arrest charges filed against felony defendants, conditions of 
pretrial release, and pretrial misconduct which includes the court 
appearance record, violations of release conditions, and re-arrests 
committed while on pretrial release. The adjudication outcomes 
encompassing the dismissal, diversion, guilty plea, and trial 
conviction rates for felony defendants are also recorded. For those 
defendants convicted, sentencing data are collected. The SCPS 2009 
project also involves collecting aggregate information on the 
electronic data storage and transfer capacities of courts located in a 
sample of the nation's 900 most populous counties.
    (5) An Estimate of the Total Number of Respondents and the Amount 
of Time Estimated for an Average Respondent to Respond: It is estimated 
that information will be collected on a total of 15,000 felony 
defendants from 40 responding counties. The estimated burden hours will 
be contingent upon the counties electronic storage and transfer 
capabilities. Data collection will occur in a more timely and 
expeditious manner among counties with the capacities to electronically 
transfer all their case processing, pretrial, and criminal history 
information to the data collection agent. It is estimated that about 10 
of the 40 counties have the capacity to transfer entire files of SCPS 
cases and that it should take these counties about 15 hours per county 
to produce programs capable of transferring the SCPS data to the data 
collection agent. For the remaining 30 counties that lack the capacity 
to engage in electronic transfers, data collection will involve 
manually coding the SCPS survey forms for an online or paper based 
submission. Prior SCPS data collection endeavors show an estimated one 
hour to manually code each SCPS case for online or paper based 
submission. In addition to collecting case processing information, 
courts located in 200 jurisdictions will be asked to complete a 
spreadsheet surveying their overall levels of case and pretrial 
automation. Pretests of the instrument found that the average time to 
complete the spreadsheet was about 2 hours per trial court.
    (6) An Estimate of the Total Public Burden (in hours) Associated 
with the Collection: The estimated public burden associated for the 
SCPS data collection is 11,800 hours. In the 30 counties in which SCPS 
cases are manually coded for paper or online based submission, an 
estimated 11,250 data collection forms (375 forms per county) will be 
coded and it should take an estimated one hour to code each data 
collection form. Hence, the estimated public burden associated with the 
manual based collection of SCPS data forms should be about 11,250 
hours. In the 10 counties in which SCPS cases can be transferred 
through computerized case management systems, it should take an 
estimated 150 hours (15 hours per county) to generate the programs 
capable of transferring information for these SCPS cases. Lastly, about 
400 hours will be required to complete the spreadsheets surveying the 
overall levels of case and pretrial automation for courts located in 
200 counties (200 counties multiplied by 2 hours per spreadsheet). 
Therefore, the total burden time for the SCPS 2009 project should be 
about 11,800 hours (11,250 hours for manual based data collection + 150 
hours for computerized transfer of automated SCPS data + 400 hours for 
the survey of court automation capacities).
    If additional information is required contact: Ms. Lynn Bryant, 
Department Clearance Officer, United States Department of Justice, 
Justice Management Division, Policy and Planning Staff, Suite 1600, 601 
D Street, NW., Washington, DC 20530.

     Dated: January 12, 2010.
Ms. Lynn Bryant,
Department Clearance Officer, PRA, U.S. Department of Justice.
[FR Doc. 2010-768 Filed 1-15-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-18-P