Analysis of Publicly Available Court Data (APACD) | BJS 2018 14149

Opportunity Information: Apply for BJS 2018 14149

The Analysis of Publicly Available Court Data (APACD) grant opportunity is a Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) developmental project focused on figuring out how usable publicly available U.S. court data really is, and what it would take to build a sound, nationally representative approach for measuring court activity. The core idea is not to immediately launch a full-scale data collection program, but to first take a hard look at what information is already out there, how consistent and reliable it is, whether it reflects the full range of courts and case types, and what gaps would prevent the production of credible national estimates.

At the center of the project is an evaluation of the availability, quality, and representativeness of court data that can be accessed publicly across the United States. This means examining what different courts and jurisdictions publish (or make accessible) about filings, dispositions, case processing, charges/claims, outcomes, timing, and other indicators of court activity, and then assessing whether those data are complete enough and standardized enough to support national statistics. The solicitation expects applicants to identify where publicly available data fall short, explain why those gaps matter for national measurement, and point to alternative data sources that could fill those gaps when public sources are incomplete or inconsistent.

Because the effort is explicitly developmental, applicants are encouraged to think broadly about the entire court landscape rather than focusing on a narrow slice. That includes considering all levels of courts, such as municipal courts or other limited jurisdiction courts, general jurisdiction trial courts, states with single-tiered court structures, and appellate courts. It also includes covering both major sides of court business: criminal matters (with attention to both misdemeanor and felony court data) and civil matters (with an expectation to consider all civil court data, not just selected categories). The overall goal is to set the groundwork for national estimates of court activity, so the project is oriented toward understanding coverage and comparability across jurisdictions and court types, and toward designing a sampling approach that could produce representative national measures.

There are also clear boundaries on what the project should and should not cover. The solicitation specifically excludes juvenile court data, meaning applicants should not propose collecting or building plans around juvenile court datasets. Family court data is treated differently: the opportunity leaves it up to the applicant to decide whether to include some or all family court data in the assessment and planning. In practice, that means an applicant could justify including family court as part of civil court measurement or could limit the scope, as long as the choice is explained and aligned with the broader goal of producing national court activity estimates.

The intended deliverable is a proposed nationally representative sampling plan for collecting court data in the future, informed by the assessment of what is publicly available and what is missing. That sampling plan would need to reflect the diversity of court structures and case types across states and localities, and it would need to account for the practical reality that data systems, publication practices, and accessibility vary widely. In other words, the project is meant to translate an inventory-and-gap analysis into a realistic blueprint for how a national court statistics program could draw a sample of courts or jurisdictions and produce defensible national estimates.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity issued by the Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, using a cooperative agreement funding instrument. The opportunity number is BJS 2018 14149, under CFDA 16.734 (Information and Statistics). The posted award ceiling is $2,000,000, with BJS expecting to make one award. The opportunity was created on April 27, 2018, and the original closing date was June 12, 2018. Eligible applicants are listed as "Others," with further clarification referenced in the additional eligibility information associated with the solicitation.

• The Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics in the information and statistics sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Analysis of Publicly Available Court Data (APACD)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.734.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 27, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 12, 2018. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for BJS 2018 14149

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