County Selection The 19 priority counties included in the MADD Nebraska Court Monitoring Briefing were identified by the Nebraska Office of Highway Safety (NOHS) as having either a high crash rate for alcohol, speed and/or alcohol use by youth. These counties include Adams, Buffalo, Cuming, Dakota, Dawson, Dodge, Douglas, Gage, Hall, Jefferson, Lancaster, Lincoln, Madison, Phelps, Platte, Red Willow, Saline, Sarpy and Wayne. The target population consists of offenders arrested for DUI. It is imperative that courts take a strong look at the effectiveness of DUI adjudication and how those actions contribute to the progress in reducing impaired driving fatalities and recidivism. Residents will benefit from a court monitoring program focused on the criminal justice system and sentencing outcomes. MADD Nebraska worked closely with law enforcement, prosecutors, court personnel, and vested partners to collect data. Information will illustrate trends, patterns, and behaviors surrounding impaired driving enforcement and prosecution. Quantitative Data Collection Court Monitoring Program data were obtained from two sources: court trial forms, completed by MADD Nebraska staff and volunteers, and the Nebraska Trial Courts Case Search System database, hereafter called Justice. CMP volunteers included concerned community members, college students interested in volunteering and/or requiring internship hours for a class, and retired adults. Data from the court trial forms were collected from four categories: 1) case information, 2) charges, 3) sanctions/sentence and 4) comments. Examples of case information included defendant name, date of birth and name and location of court. Charges recorded included the original charge, final charge, amended, and arresting agency. Examples of sanctions/sentences imposed included jail time, fines, ignition interlock, license suspension/revocation, and probation. Information collected by court program monitors were verified by MADD Nebraska CMP staff through records accessed from Justice. This database provided a detailed record of each DUI case presented to the court. Case information, charges, and sanctions imposed were available through the Justice system. Data obtained from the Justice database was compared to information recorded on the court trial form to assure accuracy of data collection by court program monitors. Data Analysis Case files with Case Year 2019 were utilized for the data collection Data from closed and misdemeanor DUI cases with sanctions imposed were entered into Microsoft Excel spreadsheets for analysis. Variables of interest for this report included rulings, number and type of amended cases, length of case, offender age and gender, offense type, and sanctions imposed. Data was reported by frequencies, percentages, and averages.
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