Prosecutorial Screening & Petition Decisions (Gateway to Court)

Pipeline 02D

Transparency note: small monthly filing cohorts and policy memos that alter filing thresholds can create series breaks. We pool when n is small and annotate definition or policy changes in metadata.

Overview

After intake, many jurisdictions route eligible referrals to a prosecutor for screening. Decision points include legal sufficiency, charge selection, diversion or decline, and—when filed—petition content and initial scheduling. This node documents the observable elements of that review and how they shape downstream case mix, timelines, and equity indicators.

What We Track

Legal Sufficiency

Verify completeness of police/referral reports (incident narrative, attachments)
Confirm available evidence (witness statements, video, lab, photos)
Check statute mapping (elements met, lesser-included, defenses)

Diversion/Decline vs. File

Apply criteria for diversion offers or declines (policy memo, eligibility grid)
Log reasons when declining to file (insufficient evidence, interests of justice)
Record offer/acceptance status and time-to-offer (days from receipt)

Charge Selection

Identify most serious offense and included counts
Track amendments between referral and filing (up/down-charge)
Harmonize to common offense taxonomy for cross-site comparability

Timeliness & Notice

Measure days from referral receipt to decision and to filing (if filed)
Confirm notice to youth/caregiver (method, date sent, language access)
Ensure counsel pathways communicated before substantive steps

Equity & Overrides

Compute rate ratios (file vs. decline/divert) by race/ethnicity and geography
Document overrides to screening guidance or diversion eligibility (with rationale)

Simple Flow

Referral packet received by prosecutor; verify completeness
- Check reports, evidence attachments, and statute mapping
- Start timeliness clock (receipt → decision)
Screening for legal sufficiency and diversion eligibility
- Apply policy criteria; note any mandatory exclusions
- Record preliminary charge options for audit trail
Decision: offer diversion / decline to file / file petition with selected charges
- If diversion or decline, log reasons and notice sent
- If filing, finalize charge selection and petition details
Notice & scheduling for initial hearing; ensure counsel pathways are clear
- Record notice modality (mail/SMS/portal), date, and language support
- Set hearing; confirm counsel appointed/present
Handoff to court operations; update case management and audit trail
- Transmit packet to court CMS; sync filing metadata
- Preserve decision logs and override notes for equity review

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		—	Staff primary actor for this place, if applicable.
occurred_datetime	datetime	✅	—	Timestamp when the screening decision was recorded.
jurisdiction_code	string	✅	—	County/parish/circuit or standardized local code.
location_site_id	string		—	Office identifier for the prosecuting authority.
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.
legal_case_id	string		—	Docket/case identifier if petition filed or case already opened.
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.
referral_received_datetime	datetime	✅	—	Timestamp prosecutor’s office received the packet. :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}
packet_completeness_code	enum		legal_sufficiency.yml#packet_completeness(3) complete missing_elements critical_missing	Packet completeness per checklist (complete, missing_elements, critical_missing). :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}
evidence_summary_code	enum		legal_sufficiency.yml#evidence_summary⚠️ using legal_sufficiency.yml#packet_completeness(3) complete missing_elements critical_missing	Evidence availability snapshot (witnesses, video, lab, photos). :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}
statute_mapping_code	enum		legal_sufficiency.yml#statute_mapping⚠️ using legal_sufficiency.yml#packet_completeness(3) complete missing_elements critical_missing	Elements met / lesser-included / apparent defenses. :contentReference[oaicite:3]{index=3}
screening_decision_code	enum	✅	prosecutorial_decisions.yml#decision(3) divert_offer decline_to_file file_petition	divert_offer, decline_to_file, file_petition. :contentReference[oaicite:4]{index=4}
decline_reason_code	enum		decline_reasons.yml#reason(4) insufficient_evidence interests_of_justice de_minimis wrong_venue	Reason for decline (insufficient_evidence, interests_of_justice, de_minimis, wrong_venue). :contentReference[oaicite:5]{index=5}
diversion_offer_sent_datetime	datetime		—	Timestamp diversion offer communicated (if screening_decision_code = divert_offer). :contentReference[oaicite:6]{index=6}
diversion_offer_status_code	enum		diversion_offer_statuses.yml#status(4) offered accepted declined expired	offered, accepted, declined, expired. :contentReference[oaicite:7]{index=7}
charge_selection_code	enum		offense_taxonomy.yml#charge_class(6) felony_A felony_B felony_C misdemeanor_A misdemeanor_B status_only	Most-serious-offense class per common taxonomy. :contentReference[oaicite:8]{index=8}
charge_change_code	enum		charge_change.yml#change(3) upcharge downcharge none	Upcharge, downcharge, or none between referral and filing. :contentReference[oaicite:9]{index=9}
petition_filed_datetime	datetime		—	If filed, timestamp petition finalized for court. :contentReference[oaicite:10]{index=10}
notice_method_code	enum		notice_methods.yml#method(6) in_person phone video mail email portal	Notice modality to youth/caregiver (mail, sms, portal, in_person). :contentReference[oaicite:11]{index=11}
notice_sent_datetime	datetime		—	Timestamp notice sent. :contentReference[oaicite:12]{index=12}
language_access_flag	boolean		—	Language support documented for notices/communications. :contentReference[oaicite:13]{index=13}
counsel_pathway_flag	boolean		—	Counsel pathway communicated before substantive steps. :contentReference[oaicite:14]{index=14}
override_flag	boolean		—	Discretion used contrary to guidance (e.g., filed despite eligibility for diversion). :contentReference[oaicite:15]{index=15}
override_reason_code	enum		overrides.yml#reason(4) safety_exception capacity_constraint policy_exception supervisor_override	Reason for override documented in audit trail. :contentReference[oaicite:16]{index=16}
Download CSVwhat_we_track.csv

Data & Methods

Metrics use referral-based denominators for screening rates and petition-based denominators for filing patterns. Timeliness is measured as days referral→decision and referral→filing. Charge selection is summarized by most serious offense taxonomy to support cross-site comparability. When policy memos or statutory thresholds change, we mark series breaks. Small-n suppression follows Suppression & Small-n. For upstream context and consistent offense coding, see Arrest → Referral → Petition → Adjudication and cross-site conventions in Cross-Jurisdiction Comparability.

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