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April 24th, 2006

PROSECUTOR ANNOUNCES CONVICTION RATES AND REDUCTION IN CRIME RATE

SKAGIT COUNTY - Skagit County Prosecuting Attorney Tom Seguine announced conviction rates for the first two years of his administration today for Superior and District Courts, and compared them to the last two years for the prior administration.  These figures are based on information compiled by those two courts independently of the Prosecutor’s Office.  Figures for 2005 are not yet available, according to the Office of the Administrator of the Courts. 

Seguine noted that “the decrease in the conviction rate in district court in 2004 is related to the Supreme Court decision invalidating the Driving While Suspended law.  Otherwise, during the first two years of this administration, the average conviction rate was 70.75% versus 71.5% in the last two years of the prior administration.  During the same period, of course, the office increased filings significantly to address the backlog of cases that had developed over time.” 

Seguine also noted that in 2005 the rate at which new superior court cases were being referred to his office had declined significantly. For the 12 months ended 12-31-05, the annual increase in the growth rate of new cases had decreased to 2.42%; the same rate in the two prior years was 10.7% (2004) and 11.22% (2003).  “There has been a clear downward trend reflecting, hopefully, the policies implemented by the office over this time period.” 

For more information contact Tom Seguine at 360-336-9460.