Data Snapshot

Backlog of Cases Awaiting Review

The backlog in cases awaiting review that grew prior to the Close-in-Time Policy started sometime before August 2019 but little data exists before then. When the pandemic closed down the courts, the trial prosecutors were able to work on filing and reduce the backlog but that temporary reduction did not last and the backlog grew rapidly until the Davison Administration took office and implemented the Close-in-Time Policy. It is by far the largest area of backlog within the criminal division.

The new policy and increased attention to the backlog increased the rate of filing decisions and reduced the backlog. A special project was implemented at the end of 2022 to further accelerate the reduction focusing primarily on stale non-domestic violence and non-traffic cases that were nearing their statute of limitations. The City Attorney’s Office started to transition to a new case management system at the start of 2025 which led to an increase in the backlog that accelerated when the system came online in late August of 2025. Another special project was initiated in November of 2025 to bring the backlog down to nearly 600 cases awaiting review.

Seattle Crime Trends

Toxicology Backlog

Time to Complete a Toxicology Report

HUI Outcomes

HUI Referral Reduction

HUI Candidate Pool

The Average referred crimes in the five years prior to program entry. Early cohorts consisted of larger numbers offenders who were more prolific than more recent ones, signifying the High Utilizer Initiative has had a significant impact on the magnitude of prolific offenders in the City.