Programs & Resources · Case Backlogs
Case Backlog Resources
Reports, national survey data, webinars, and office-by-office case studies—built to help prosecutors manage growing caseloads and reduce delay.
What’s here
These resources are designed to help prosecutors manage growing caseloads and improve operational efficiency. This page collects the tools, training, and data that support backlog reduction efforts across jurisdictions.
They include staffing survey reports, webinar recordings, and guidance on diversion programs and conviction integrity units—part of APA’s broader work supporting offices through technical assistance and peer-to-peer collaboration. See also Programs & Resources and the Case Backlogs initiative.
Documents and downloads
Report · PDF
Case Backlogs Staffing Survey
In 2021, researchers at Lafayette College, with APA, released findings from a survey of the nation’s largest prosecutors’ offices—measuring staffing, compensation, how staff time is allocated across programmatic offerings, and the impact of COVID-19 on operations. It is one of the first assessments of how offices allocate staff resources to casework alongside programs such as prosecutor-led diversion and conviction integrity units.
National survey · 2023
Case Backlogs Survey Findings
14,000+
average cases awaiting trial per office
+5,565
average increase in cases per office
62%
increase in backlogs since COVID-19 court disruptions
Conducted by Dr. Adam Biener at Lafayette College and funded by Stand Together Trust. Case backlogs are cases pending before the court longer than typically experienced, or longer than prescribed by the court.
Webinars and trainings
Complimentary webinar
Innovative Practices and Policies to Reduce Criminal Case Backlogs · 3/31/22
Inside the full webinar library
Case studies featuring perspectives from prosecutors’ offices on the changes they made and what they measured:
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MA
Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office — eDiscovery
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ID
Elmore County Attorney’s Office — backlog efforts and results
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MN
Ramsey County Attorney’s Office
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GA
Augusta Judicial Circuit — case screening
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MT
Gallatin County Attorney’s Office
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Also
Conducting jury trials in a pandemic—and more
The full Case Backlog webinar library is available in the APA membership portal.
Related from APA
Access the full library
Members get the complete Case Backlog webinar library plus a robust training library for prosecutors and prosecution teams.