Adjudication & Disposition (Court Findings and Orders)

Pipeline 04

Transparency note: monthly adjudication and disposition cohorts can be small. Policy or statute updates affecting eligibility or order types create series breaks; we pool low-n periods and annotate definition changes in metadata.

Overview

Adjudication is the court’s determination of whether allegations are sustained. Cases can reach adjudication via trial or through plea/change-of-plea pathways. If sustained, the court issues a disposition—ranging from dismissal or deferred findings to probation, community-based services, or residential placement. This page maps observable elements of findings and orders and how they translate to supervision or services.

What We Track

Findings & Plea Pathways

Findings: sustained / not sustained / dismissal / deferments
Change-of-plea events captured (date, terms)
Amendments between petition and finding (up/down-charge)

Disposition Options

Probation with conditions
Diversion-in-lieu / community program orders
Restitution and special terms
Residential placement
Time-limited commitments

Conditions & Special Orders

School attendance / educational plan
Curfew; no-contact orders
Treatment participation (BH/SUD); program referrals
Review hearing schedule established

Timeliness & Continuances

Days: petition → adjudication; adjudication → disposition
Continuance reasons & rates; added days

Equity & Consistency

Order patterns by offense class and demographics (rate ratios)
Overrides & proportionality checks across judges/courts

Typical Flow

Hearing held or plea entered; court records finding & amended counts
- Capture finding type and any changes from petition
Pre-disposition report prepared (where used)
- Include risk/needs scores, service availability, and recommendations
Disposition ordered with conditions, referrals, and review schedule
- Document least-restrictive rationale and any overrides
Handoff to probation/community providers or placement
- Transmit orders, education/health handoffs, and required records
Monitoring via scheduled reviews
- Adjust conditions or step-down based on progress; log continuances with reasons

Fields

Field	Type	Required	Codeset	Description
pipeline_place_id	uuid	✅	—	Unique identifier for this pipeline place row.
pipeline_stage_id	enum	✅	stages.yml#stage_key(8) intake detention adjudication disposition supervision commitment_and_placement reentry closure	One of the 8 canonical stages.
pipeline_place_key	enum	✅	pipeline_places.yml#place_key(45) intake pre_petition_diversion_and_deflection diversion youth_assessment_tools prosecutorial_screening status_offenses adjudication case_planning family_engagement case_timeliness language_access restorative_justice detention_screening community_atds electronic_monitoring court_appearance_and_fta initial_hearing pretrial_supervision probation intensive_supervision …and 25 more	Canonical key for this place (maps to route/slug).
youth_id	string	✅	—	Salted/hashed or state UID. No plaintext PII.
staff_id	string		—	Judicial officer or clerk of record for the event (if captured as staff).
occurred_datetime	datetime	✅	—	Timestamp when finding and/or disposition orders were entered.
jurisdiction_code	string	✅	—	County/parish/circuit or standardized local code.
location_site_id	string		—	Courthouse/courtroom or remote host site identifier.
actor_role_code	enum		roles.yml#actor_role(7) Intake_Officer Prosecutor Defender Probation_Officer Case_Manager Facility_Staff Coach_Reentry	Role primarily responsible for this place (e.g., Judge).
legal_case_id	string		—	Case/docket identifier.
source_system	string	✅	—	Origin system name.
source_file	string		—	Source batch/file id if flatfile.
extract_run_id	string		—	ETL run id for lineage.
series_break_flag	boolean		—	Comparability break applies to this row.
series_break_reason	enum		series_breaks.yml#reason(4) definition_change vendor_change coverage_change policy_change	Reason for break when flagged.
hearing_datetime_scheduled	datetime		—	Scheduled date/time of the adjudication/disposition hearing.
hearing_type_code	enum		hearing_types.yml#type(5) initial review violation adjudication_related other	Hearing type (adjudication, disposition, review, combined).
continuance_count	integer		—	Number of continuances recorded for this hearing.
continuance_reason_codes	array<string>		continuance_reasons.yml#reason(13) witness_unavailable discovery_pending counsel_conflict court_calendar youth_health other_good_cause counsel_request discovery_delay court_congestion participant_availability interpreter_needed weather_emergency other	Continuance reasons; semicolon-delimited in CSV.
finding_code	enum	✅	adjudication_findings.yml#finding(4) sustained not_sustained dismissal deferred	sustained, not_sustained, dismissal, deferred.
plea_type_code	enum		plea_types.yml#plea(5) admitted no_contest denied withdrawn none_recorded	admitted, no_contest, denied, withdrawn, none_recorded.
change_of_plea_datetime	datetime		—	Timestamp a change-of-plea occurred (if applicable).
charge_change_code	enum		charge_change.yml#change(3) upcharge downcharge none	Upcharge, downcharge, or none between petition and finding.
disposition_type_code	enum		disposition_types.yml#type(7) probation community_program restitution_only residential_placement time_limited_commitment deferred_entry dismissed_no_disposition	probation, community_program, restitution_only, residential_placement, time_limited_commitment, deferred_entry, dismissed_no_disposition.
order_condition_codes	array<string>		order_conditions.yml#condition(6) curfew school_attendance no_contact check_ins drug_testing electronic_monitoring	Conditions imposed (school_attendance, curfew, no_contact, treatment, check_ins, etc.); semicolon-delimited.
restitution_amount_ordered	number		—	Amount ordered for restitution (monetary units local).
review_required_flag	boolean		—	Court ordered a subsequent review/hearing.
next_review_datetime	datetime		—	Scheduled date/time for next review (if any).
petition_filed_datetime	datetime		—	Petition filed timestamp (for petition→adjudication interval checks).
adjudication_datetime	datetime		—	Timestamp the finding was entered (if distinct from occurred_datetime).
disposition_datetime	datetime		—	Timestamp the disposition order was entered (if held separately).
case_resolution_code	enum		case_resolutions.yml#resolution(3) diversion_completed dismissal_decline adjudication	Downstream resolution shorthand (e.g., probation_opened, placement_committed, dismissal_decline).
Download CSVwhat_we_track.csv

Data & Methods

Adjudication metrics use petition-based denominators; disposition metrics use sustained-case denominators. Timeliness measures are petition→adjudication and adjudication→disposition days. Order categories are harmonized using a common taxonomy to support cross-site comparison. When statutes, plea practices, or order menus change, we mark series breaks. Small-n suppression follows Suppression & Small-n. Downstream measurement relies on Data Linkage & Integration and exposure conventions in Denominators & Exposure Time. For backlog and delay analysis, see Hearing Continuances & Case Timeliness.

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