Data showed the 20 most common offenses comprised 57.2 percent of all offenses dealt with in the higher courts. The most common offenses were assaults (18.7 percent), theft (17.8 percent), drugs (17.5 percent), and robbery (13.6 percent). Types of matters heard in the higher courts remained substantially the same between 1990 and 1997, despite some differences in ranking attributable mainly to jurisdictional changes made in district and local courts. Overall, the most common penalty disposition was imprisonment. Offenders were more likely to receive imprisonment as a sentencing option during the 1994-1997 period than during the 1990-1993 period and were more likely to receive a longer full-term sentence. This was true for breaking and entering, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, malicious wounding, maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm, and robbery. Detailed data are tabulated on sentencing patterns in the higher courts and offenses. 14 tables and 8 figures