For academic researchers
Virginia Criminal Court Data — Academic Dataset Access
Free with citation · grant collaborations available
Status: Active. Dataset access available for accredited research. Response within one business day.
For peer-reviewed research on Virginia criminal-justice outcomes: cited access to the underlying dataset behind four published research reports. 1.68M case records, methodology disclosed, sized for quantitative research.
vs. the free site at virginiacourtfile.com
What you can't do with the published reports alone.
Free at virginiacourtfile.com
- 4 published research reports (cite freely in your paper)
- Aggregate stats by charge × jurisdiction
- Methodology + audit SQL (for replication)
- Suitable for: citing existing findings, replicating aggregates.
In an Academic Dataset license
- Case-level dataset — 1.68M rows, de-identified where appropriate, for your own regression / classification / time-series analysis.
- Attorney + prosecutor + officer entity tables — normalized, suitable for network analysis or panel studies.
- VCSC felony sentencing detail — sentence vs guideline at the individual case level.
- DMV + court speed + continuance attribution — aggregates not in any published report.
- Methodology + audit SQL for full replication audit trail.
- Co-authoring options for aligned papers — methodology-author byline available.
- Free for accredited research; grant-budget collaborations at standard institutional rates.
The free site has the findings. The dataset has the underlying records— for original quantitative research, not citation of existing work.
What's available
- Case-level dataset— de-identified where appropriate; charge, jurisdiction, attorney slug, disposition, sentencing detail, timing.
- Attorney + prosecutor + officer entity tables— normalized, with full methodology on the matching algorithm.
- VCSC felony sentencing data— FY2023-FY2024 sentences vs guidelines.
- DMV restricted-license outcomes, court speed, continuance attribution per court.
- Complete methodology + audit SQL for every aggregate published.
Suitable for
- Empirical research on plea-bargaining patterns in state criminal courts
- Sentencing-disparity analysis (PD vs private counsel; jurisdiction variance)
- Prosecutor-discretion studies (charge amendment, trial rates)
- Court-administration research (case-flow, continuance attribution)
- Replication studies on the four published reports
- JLARC / GMU / UVA Law / W&L thesis or dissertation work
Terms
- Free for accredited research at universities or recognized institutions with public citation.
- Standard citation: “Virginia criminal-court data via VirginiaCourtFile (virginiacourtfile.com); methodology disclosed at virginiacourtfile.com/methodology.”
- For grant-funded projects with budget for data acquisition, we can bill a data-services fee at standard institutional rates.
- Co-authoring on aligned papers is welcome — tell us if your project would benefit from methodology-author byline.