The Initiation results data presented here reflects all of the arrests that came through the door of the State's Attorneys Office (SAO). Included in this data set are the defendant counts by initiation, their associated "topline" charge offense type, and year.

An initiation is how an arrest turns into a “case” in the courts. Most cases are initiated through a process known as felony review, in which SAO attorneys make a decision whether or not to prosecute. Cases may also be indicted by a grand jury or, in narcotics cases, filed directly by law enforcement (labeled "BOND SET (Narcotics)" in this data). Included in this data set are the defendant counts by initiation and year. This data includes felony cases handled by the Criminal, Narcotics, and Special Prosecution Bureaus. It does not include information about cases processed through the Juvenile Justice and Civil Actions Bureaus.