SB440 - "The Seven Deadly Sins"

The Georgia Public Defender Standards Council (GPDSC), formerly the Georgia Indigent Defense Council (GIDC), is the only organization that tracks and reports on Senate Bill 440 ("seven deadly sins") cases. When the legislation was passed in 1994, GIDC began collecting information about SB440 arrests and case dispositions. GPDSC receives financial assistance from the Governor's Children and Youth Coordinating Council (CYCC) to continue this project.

	Table of Contents The History and a Brief Explanation of SB440 The SB440 Report Survey Results Acknowledgments Contact Us About the SB440 Report If you have comments, questions or suggestions about the SB440 reporting process, please send us an e-mail.

The History and a Brief Explanation of SB440
In 1994, the Georgia General Assembly passed Senate Bill 440, now codified at Official Code of Georgia Annotated §15-11-5. This law gives the superior court exclusive jurisdiction over children ages 13-17 who are alleged to have committed one of the following offenses (commonly referred to as the "Seven Deadly Sins"):

• Murder
• Voluntary Manslaughter
• Rape
• Aggravated Sodomy
• Aggravated Child Molestation
• Aggravated Sexual Battery
• Armed Robbery if committed with a firearm

Transfer to Juvenile Court: Prior to indictment, the district attorney may elect to send the case to juvenile court. If the case is transferred to juvenile court it is subject to the provisions of O.C.G.A. Sec. 15-11-37, the Designated Felony Act. After indictment, a case not involving an offense punishable by death or life imprisonment (voluntary manslaughter, aggravated sexual battery, and a first offense of aggravated child molestation), may be transferred to the juvenile court by the superior court after "investigation and for extraordinary cause."
There are two phases to the collection of data for the SB440 project. The first phase involves the collection of arrest information. Every quarter the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) provides GPDSC with a list of all juveniles admitted to a DJJ facility for an SB440 offense within the preceding three months. This information has been available through DJJ's central database since 1996. Prior to 1996, information was obtained from individual detention facilities rather than from the state office. GPDSC distributed tracking sheets to each facility and asked that a tracking sheet be completed each time a juvenile was brought into the facility on an SB440 charge.

The second phase of the data collection process involves the gathering of dispositional information. This is by far the most difficult task, as there is no central source for dispositional information. The information on case outcomes that GPDSC attempts to collect includes the following:

• whether the case went to trial, and if so, whether there was an acquittal, conviction (for which offense), or mistrial;
• whether the case was transferred to juvenile court;
• whether the case was a plea, and for what offense;
• whether the case was presented but no-billed by the Grand Jury;
• whether the case was nolle prosequi (indicted, but not prosecuted);
• whether the case was not presented to the Grand Jury ("dismissed");
• whether the case was placed on the dead docket (indicted but not prosecuted immediately, placed on an inactive docket);
• whether the case is an active case (still open);
• date of sentence, final disposition;
• length and type of sentence

	The SB440 Report Current Report & Other Recent Reports   Note: All SB440 reports Most Recent SB440 Report January 2006 Fiscal Year 2005, Final Report Previous SB440 Reports September, 2004 Fiscal Year 2004, Fourth Quarter Update June, 2004 Fiscal Year 2004, Third Quarter Update March, 2004 Fiscal Year 2004, Second Quarter Update December, 2003 Fiscal Year 2004, First Quarter Update Report for Quarters 2-4 FY 2003 not available December, 2002 Fiscal Year 2003, First Quarter Update September, 2002 Fiscal Year 2002, Fourth Quarter Update June, 2002 Fiscal Year 2002, Third Quarter Update March, 2002 Fiscal Year 2002, Second Quarter Update December 2001 Fiscal Year 2002, First Quarter Update September 2001 Fiscal Year 2001, Fourth Quarter Update June, 2001 Fiscal Year 2001, Third Quarter Update March, 2001 Fiscal Year 2001, Second Quarter Update December, 2000 Fiscal Year 2001, First Quarter Update September, 2000 Fiscal Year 2000, Fourth Quarter Update June, 2000 Fiscal Year 2000, Third Quarter Update March, 2000 Fiscal Year 2000, Second Quarter Update December, 1999 Fiscal Year 2000, First Quarter Update September, 1999 Fiscal Year 1999, Fourth Quarter Update

Survey Results
Thanks to all who responded to our recent survey of the SB440 reporting process. We had a forty (40%) percent response rate, which is tremendous! In the survey, we asked respondents to rank the usefulness of the SB440 report, inquired whether the entire report was read, asked which kinds of statistics were most important to our readers, whether the report was "user-friendly," and finally whether the report is easy to understand.

Fully 96% said that the report was useful, very useful or extremely useful. An amazing 94% said that they read the entire report. The report was found to be "user-friendly" by 93% of the respondants. Finally, fully 100% said that the report was easy to understand!

Comments on the report were entirely favorable, including several good suggestions that are under consideration. Again, thanks to all of those who took the time to respond. Look for future surveys very soon.

Acknowledgments
The Georgia Public Defender Standards Council wishes to thank the Governor's Children and Youth Coordinating Council (CYCC) and the Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) for their financial support of this project. GPDSC receives financial assistance from CYCC and OJJDP that helps to offset significant costs of tracking and reporting SB440 data.