At the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office (CCSAO), our unwavering commitment to transparency drives our mission.
Historically, the public has had limited access to the intricacies and outcomes of our vital work. State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, upon taking office in December 2016, pledged to transform this dynamic. She recognizes that the credibility and effectiveness of both the CCSAO's operations and public discourse on criminal justice rely on data rather than anecdotes, and it is our duty to generate and facilitate understanding of this essential information.
"Our work must be grounded in data and evidence, and the public should have access to that information.” SA Foxx
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Open Data
A core component of the CCSAO's commitment to data transparency under State's Attorney Foxx is the regular release of case-level datasets containing anonymized information about every felony case processed by the CCSAO (dating back to roughly 2010). Divided into four categories by stages of interaction with the CCSAO — Intake, Initiation, Sentencing, and Disposition — these datasets, containing tens of millions of data points and representing hundreds of thousands of distinct cases, provide an unobstructed view of the CCSAO's work on behalf of the taxpayers of Cook County.
Felony Dashboard
In addition to the unmatched transparency of regular releases of detailed case-level data, the State's Attorney Foxx and the CCSAO Data Team seek to make that information accessible and understandable for the community as a whole, without needing advanced technical expertise. The felony cases dashboard offers broad descriptions and summaries of the information contained in the case-level datasets.
Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence
The CCSAO Dashboards are tools created by the CCSAO Data Team to provide context and explanation of felony Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence (SADV) data:
Hacking 4 Justice
In September 2018, the CCSAO piloted the Hacking 4 Justice (H4J) workshop series for community members interested in learning how to analyze and interpret the CCSAO's case-level datasets; the CCSAO Data Team now supports H4J as an independent partnership. Learn about upcoming H4J trainings and sign up to participate at Hacking4Justice.org.
Data Updates — find a log of the latest updates from the SAO Data Team
The CCSAO Data Team
Pursuing an unprecedented data transparency agenda started with hiring the CCSAO's first-ever Chief Data Officer, Matthew Saniie, who joined the Office in 2017. In addition to the case-level datasets and annual Data Reports, Matthew is responsible for leading the CCSAO’s ongoing effort to increase prosecutorial transparency and innovation in the criminal justice system.
If you are interested in working with the CCSAO on quantitative research that depends on more, or different, data than the case-level datasets provide, please Submit a Data Request using this form. Other inquiries about data transparency at the CCSAO can be directed to SAOData@cookcountyil.gov.
