Data In-Depth
The Charges
By Bea Malsky, Jared Rutecki, Emily Hoerner, Forest Gregg, Trina Reynolds-Tyler, Jean Cochrane, Hannah Cushman Garland, Sam McAlilly and Abby Blachman
This is a detailed breakdown of more than 3 million criminal cases filed in Cook County between 2000 and 2018. That’s more than 400 cases per day.
In a first-of-its-kind project, The Circuit collected and cleaned millions of records from the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County’s mainframe computer system. We then analyzed these cases and organized them based on the top, or most serious, charge.
The charts below show the number of cases that prosecutors filed broken down into major categories, from battery and possession of deadly weapons to disorderly conduct and violating controlled substances laws. They also distinguish between misdemeanor charges and felony charges within those categories.
Click ‘read more’ under each category below to see a more detailed breakdown of the types of cases that fall within that category, as well as racial, ethnic and gender breakdowns of those charges. For example, if you click homicide, you’ll see a steady decline in first-degree murder charges since 2000. If you click burglary, you’ll see that most of these cases are felonies.
- Felony
- Misdemeanor
Click column titles to sort. Click arrows on left to expand offense descriptions.
Offense Category | Total Cases | Cases Over Time | |
---|---|---|---|
↓ | Battery | 532,830 cases | |
↓ | Controlled Substances Act | 430,806 cases | |
↓ | Other Offenses | 412,468 cases | |
↓ | Criminal Damage and Trespass to Property | 384,482 cases | |
↓ | Cannabis Control Act | 351,665 cases | |
→ | Theft | 325,569 cases | |
→ | Assault | 118,027 cases | |
→ | Disorderly Conduct | 92,175 cases | |
→ | Motor Vehicle Offenses | 73,960 cases | |
→ | Deadly Weapons | 72,437 cases | |
→ | Deceptive Practices | 67,271 cases | |
→ | Sex Offenses | 56,981 cases | |
→ | Burglary | 53,530 cases | |
→ | Interference with Public Officers | 49,052 cases | |
→ | Robbery | 34,124 cases | |
→ | Drug Paraphernalia Control Act | 29,264 cases | |
→ | Gambling | 26,418 cases | |
→ | Motor Vehicle Theft | 15,340 cases | |
→ | Liquor Control Act Violations | 13,700 cases | |
→ | Offenses Involving Children | 11,194 cases | |
→ | Homicide | 7,812 cases | |
→ | Criminal Sexual Assault | 7,646 cases | |
→ | Violation of Criminal Registry Laws | 7,399 cases | |
→ | Burglary or Theft From Motor Vehicle | 4,190 cases | |
→ | Kidnapping | 3,046 cases | |
→ | Hypodermic Syringes and Needles Act | 2,264 cases | |
→ | Arson | 1,510 cases | |
→ | Methamphetamine Offenses | 1,419 cases | |
→ | Intimidation | 1,193 cases |
Offense categories with fewer than 750 total cases are not shown.