Drafter

Clerk 03/20/2024

Title

A MOTION requesting the King County prosecuting attorney to expand juvenile case data available to the public through the prosecuting attorney's data dashboard.

Body

                     WHEREAS, the King County prosecuting attorney is responsible for prosecuting all felonies in King County and all misdemeanors in unincorporated areas of King County, and

                     WHEREAS, in 2020, the prosecuting attorney's office created a data dashboard to better inform the public, government decision makers, and criminal justice system partners about the trajectory of felony criminal justice cases in King County, and

                     WHEREAS, the data dashboard is guided by four foundational principals:  transparency, accountability, effectiveness, and reform, and

                     WHEREAS, the data dashboard is separated into two district categories, which are adult felony data and juvenile data, and

                      WHEREAS, the data dashboard provides significantly less detail for and fewer ways to filter the juvenile data, thus limiting the public's ability to understand the trends and current status of juvenile crime in King County, and

                     WHEREAS, the public and policymakers would benefit from having access to detailed juvenile crime data, especially as the county considers major policy decisions such as zero youth detention;

                     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County:

                     A.  The prosecuting attorney is requested to expand the amount of juvenile case data available to the public through the prosecuting attorney's data dashboard.

                     B.  In addition to the information already provided, the juvenile data section of the dashboard should give users the ability to access and analyze juvenile cases in manner consistent with the adult felony cases section of the dashboard.  The data dashboard for juvenile cases should include, but not be limited to, the following:

                       1.  Status of open cases and age of caseload;

                        2.  Felony referrals by crime category;

                       3.  Declines by crime category and type of decline;

                       4.  Diversion and alternative programs, including restorative community pathways, by program and by crime category;

                       5.  Filings by crime category; and

                       6.  Dispositions by crime category and type;

                     C.  The following information should be added to the sex offenses tab within the juvenile section of the data dashboard:

                       1.  The number of statutory referrals that were investigated;

                       2.  The number of statutory referrals that were charged;

                       3.  The number of statutory referrals that were diverted;

                       4.  The number of statutory referrals that were declined;

                       5.  A complete breakdown of the "other outcomes" category for sex offenses; and

                       6.  The ability to look at line graphs showing sex offense trends over time.

                     D.  The prosecuting attorney should protect the privacy of individual defendants while, to the greatest extent possible, preserving the dashboard categories and subcategories outlined in sections B. and C. of this motion and the intent to mirror the adult dashboard.  In order to protect the privacy of individual defendants, the prosecuting attorney may combine data subcategories; however, that should be done at the lowest subcategory possible.

                     E.  The prosecuting attorney should electronically file a plan detailing the implementation of this motion no later than September 30, 2024, with the clerk of the council, who shall retain the original and provide an electronic copy to all

councilmembers, the council chief of staff, and the lead staff for the law and justice committee, or its successor.