The 20 offenses account for more than 75 percent of criminal matters dealt with in local jurisdictions, as recorded by the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research. The statistics cover a wide range of offenses dealt with by local courts but concentrate on offenses for which an offender is at least liable to a fine of $500 or more or to an imprisonment term. The most common types of offenses dealt with by local courts in 1992 were prescribed concentration of alcohol offenses (24.5 percent), larceny type offenses (12.3 percent), drug offenses (10.4 percent), offenses against good order (8.4 percent), driving without a valid license (8.3 percent), maliciously destroying or damaging property (3.8 percent), and driving too fast or dangerously (1.4 percent). A custodial sentence was imposed in more than 50 percent of cases for only 3 of the top 20 offenses--breaking and entering, supplying a prohibited drug, and driving while disqualified. This finding suggested magistrates used a range of both custodial and noncustodial sentencing options, with custodial sentences reserved for the most serious cases. 2 tables and 9 figures