Presents data collected from a representative sample of felony cases filed in the Nation's 75 largest counties during May 1998. The cases are prospectively tracked for one year to present a complete description of the processing of felony defendants. The description includes demographic characteristics, prior arrests and convictions, current arrest charges, criminal justice status at the time of the arrest, type of pretrial release or detention, bail amount, court appearance record, adjudication outcome, and sentence received if convicted. This periodic report is published every two years.

• Eighty-two percent of defendants were male, including 90% or more of those charged with rape (100%), a weapons offense (96%), a driving-related offense (91%), robbery (91%), or burglary (90%).
• Thirty-six percent of all defendants were detained until the court disposed of their case, including 7% who were denied bail.
• At time of arrest, more than a third of defendants had an active criminal justice status such as probation (16%), release pending disposition of a prior case (14%), or parole (5%).