BenchRecon Data Study · Florida
How Florida charges are resolved, 4,273,369 charge dispositions analyzed.
We grouped 4,273,369 Florida charge dispositions from the state's public FDLE Criminal Justice Data Transparency (CJDT) Clerk-of-Court data by how each charge was resolved, dismissed, diverted, acquitted, or convicted, and report the recorded rates statewide, within each high-volume charge category, and across all 20 judicial circuits. Statewide, 4.7% of charges were dismissed and 7.4% diverted; the dismissal share ranges from about 0.6% to 11.8% across circuits.
Read these as descriptive, not causal, and not predictive. These rates are not adjusted for charge severity, evidence strength, criminal history, or case facts, they do not measure prosecutor, office, or court performance, and they are not a drop rate for any specific case. Circuits and charge categories differ systematically in case mix and charging practice, so the differences below largely reflect what and who is in each group, not how tough or lenient an office is. Nothing here ranks one circuit or office against another.
“Dismissed” pools ordinary, speedy-trial, restitution, and decline-to-adjudicate dismissals; “convicted” means adjudicated guilty or adjudication withheld. The five families sum to 100% per row. Dispositions span 1951-12-22 to 2026-06-20 (96.9% from 2000 or later; median disposition year 2022); the figures are not time-normalized.
Aggregate analysis. Reproducible from public records. No individual defendant, charge, or case is identified.
4,273,369charge dispositions analyzed
4.7%of charges resolved by dismissal (statewide)
20judicial circuits broken out
10charge categories broken down by circuit
Statewide disposition rates
The recorded share of all Florida charges resolved by each disposition family. As the caveat above explains, these statewide averages pool decades of records across very different charges and circuits; the same caution applies to every table on this page.
| Charges | Dismissed | Diversion | Acquitted | Convicted | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4,273,369 | 4.7% | 7.4% | 0.5% | 84.4% | 3% |
Methodology & limitations
Source & method
- Source: public Florida FDLE Criminal Justice Data Transparency (CJDT) Clerk-of-Court case data. Snapshot analyzed: 2026-06-21.
- Population: all 4,273,369 charge dispositions in the extract. The grain is one charge, not one case.
- Disposition families: each charge is assigned to exactly one of five mutually exclusive families from the FDLE Disposition field, dismissed (ordinary, speedy-trial, restitution, and decline-to-adjudicate), pre-trial diversion, acquitted (including by reason of insanity), convicted (adjudicated guilty or adjudication withheld), and an other/procedural remainder. The five sum to 100% per cell.
- Scope, court disposition, not charging: the data records how the court resolved each charge, not the state attorney's decision to file, decline, or nolle prosequi. The source field has no nolle-prosequi or no-information value, so no declination rate is reported.
- Cuts: statewide; by the 10 highest-volume charge categories (statute-chapter groupings) and, within each, by judicial circuit; by all 20 judicial circuits; and by the 12 highest-volume counties.
- Small cells suppressed: any cell with fewer than 10 charges is excluded from every figure.
- Reproducible: every figure is regenerated by a verification script run against the public FDLE CJDT source data, and the aggregate is published as a downloadable CSV.
What the data does NOT show
- Not causal. Not predictive. Not a ranking. These rates are not adjusted for charge severity, evidence strength, criminal history, or case facts. They do not measure the performance of any prosecutor, office, or court, and they are not a drop rate for any specific case.
- Case mix differs by group. Circuits, counties, and charge categories differ in the offenses charged, local diversion programs, and charging practice. A higher or lower dismissal or conviction rate reflects what and who is in that group, not what an office did.
- Coarse charge categories. A statute-chapter grouping mixes offenses of very different severity, so even the within-category tables do not hold severity constant.
- Not time-normalized. The figures pool every disposition in the extract regardless of year (1951-12-22 to 2026-06-20), and charging and diversion practice changed over that span.
- No individual defendant, charge, or case is identified. This study reports aggregates only.
By charge category and judicial circuit
For each of Florida's highest-volume charge categories, the disposition rates statewide and within each judicial circuit, the breakdown behind “how often are {charge} charges dismissed or diverted in {circuit}.” Looking within a charge category narrows, but does not eliminate, the case-mix problem: a statute-chapter grouping still mixes offenses of very different severity, and the circuits still differ in evidence strength and charging practice. Read these as descriptive within-category rates, not as a circuit ranking.
Drug Abuse Prevention and Control (752,630 charges statewide, 1.4% dismissed, 4.3% diverted)
| Judicial circuit | Charges | Dismissed | Diversion | Acquitted | Convicted | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Circuit | 75,381 | 2.6% | 2.8% | 0.3% | 93.9% | 0.4% |
| 2nd Circuit | 13,860 | 1% | 7% | 0.4% | 89% | 2.7% |
| 3rd Circuit | 7,666 | 0.6% | 3.7% | 0.2% | 95.1% | 0.4% |
| 4th Circuit | 50,100 | 0.3% | 0.7% | 0.1% | 98.8% | 0.2% |
| 5th Circuit | 51,695 | 1.6% | 4.9% | 0.1% | 93% | 0.4% |
| 6th Circuit | 72,583 | 1% | 3.8% | 0.1% | 93.9% | 1.3% |
| 7th Circuit | 73,468 | 1% | 3.2% | 0.1% | 95.6% | 0.2% |
| 8th Circuit | 11,493 | 0.1% | 6.2% | 0.3% | 92.9% | 0.5% |
| 9th Circuit | 27,278 | 1.6% | 9.3% | 0.3% | 86.7% | 2.1% |
| 10th Circuit | 30,611 | 0.2% | 5.8% | 0.2% | 92.9% | 0.8% |
| 11th Circuit | 64,131 | 1.2% | 2.2% | 0.3% | 96.3% | 0% |
| 12th Circuit | 44,059 | 1% | 2.9% | 0.1% | 95.4% | 0.6% |
| 13th Circuit | 52,112 | 2.1% | 6% | 0.1% | 90.6% | 1.2% |
| 14th Circuit | 64,517 | 1.4% | 5.1% | 0.3% | 93% | 0.1% |
| 15th Circuit | 24,363 | 0.8% | 15.6% | 0.1% | 82.9% | 0.7% |
| 16th Circuit | 3,340 | 1.2% | 13.6% | 0.1% | 84.9% | 0.1% |
| 17th Circuit | 8,783 | 7.2% | 0.1% | 0% | 92.6% | 0% |
| 18th Circuit | 10,172 | 0.1% | 3.5% | 0.1% | 94.9% | 1.3% |
| 19th Circuit | 28,732 | 4.3% | 1.8% | 0.6% | 90.5% | 2.7% |
| 20th Circuit | 38,286 | 0.1% | 5% | 0.3% | 94.2% | 0.3% |
Driver Licenses (688,906 charges statewide, 3.7% dismissed, 14% diverted)
| Judicial circuit | Charges | Dismissed | Diversion | Acquitted | Convicted | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Circuit | 70,227 | 7.3% | 11% | 0.1% | 79.5% | 2.1% |
| 2nd Circuit | 11,585 | 0.9% | 37.1% | 0.1% | 61.1% | 0.8% |
| 3rd Circuit | 7,073 | 8.9% | 8.4% | 0% | 82.3% | 0.3% |
| 4th Circuit | 46,686 | 3.1% | 0.2% | 0% | 96.7% | 0% |
| 5th Circuit | 35,893 | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0% | 99% | 0.1% |
| 6th Circuit | 42,694 | 3.5% | 0.1% | 0% | 95.5% | 0.9% |
| 7th Circuit | 46,988 | 7.1% | 4.5% | 0% | 88.3% | 0% |
| 8th Circuit | 9,186 | 0% | 1.5% | 0% | 98.3% | 0.1% |
| 9th Circuit | 24,632 | 23.9% | 0.4% | 0% | 75.4% | 0.2% |
| 10th Circuit | 29,175 | 0.8% | 10.7% | 0% | 88.3% | 0.2% |
| 11th Circuit | 11,820 | 2.9% | 5.9% | 0.1% | 91.2% | 0% |
| 12th Circuit | 50,913 | 4.3% | 15.6% | 0.2% | 79.8% | 0.1% |
| 13th Circuit | 57,624 | 5% | 11.2% | 0% | 83.6% | 0.2% |
| 14th Circuit | 33,990 | 1% | 4.4% | 0.3% | 94.3% | 0.1% |
| 15th Circuit | 104,187 | 0.8% | 57.3% | 0% | 41.8% | 0% |
| 16th Circuit | 3,351 | 0.4% | 7.3% | 0% | 92.2% | 0.1% |
| 17th Circuit | 23,731 | 0.7% | 1.1% | 0.1% | 98.1% | 0% |
| 18th Circuit | 9,341 | 0.6% | 0.8% | 0% | 97.9% | 0.7% |
| 19th Circuit | 23,989 | 0.3% | 0.5% | 3.8% | 94.8% | 0.5% |
| 20th Circuit | 45,821 | 0.1% | 3.1% | 0% | 96.7% | 0.1% |
Theft, Robbery, and Related Crimes (450,205 charges statewide, 1.6% dismissed, 7.8% diverted)
| Judicial circuit | Charges | Dismissed | Diversion | Acquitted | Convicted | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Circuit | 51,847 | 3.3% | 3.9% | 0.5% | 91.6% | 0.7% |
| 2nd Circuit | 10,036 | 1.8% | 12.8% | 0.7% | 79.5% | 5.3% |
| 3rd Circuit | 3,252 | 0.2% | 10.1% | 0.2% | 89.2% | 0.4% |
| 4th Circuit | 27,660 | 0.3% | 3.7% | 0.1% | 95.8% | 0.2% |
| 5th Circuit | 25,630 | 0.6% | 9.8% | 0.1% | 89% | 0.4% |
| 6th Circuit | 30,376 | 1.6% | 5.7% | 0.2% | 91.4% | 1.1% |
| 7th Circuit | 36,844 | 1.9% | 7.4% | 0.2% | 90.2% | 0.3% |
| 8th Circuit | 7,195 | 0.4% | 5.6% | 0.3% | 92.7% | 1% |
| 9th Circuit | 27,654 | 1.9% | 10.9% | 0.4% | 84.1% | 2.6% |
| 10th Circuit | 13,035 | 0.6% | 8.7% | 0.4% | 89.3% | 1.1% |
| 11th Circuit | 54,872 | 0.8% | 7.6% | 0.5% | 91.1% | 0% |
| 12th Circuit | 19,971 | 1.8% | 8.1% | 0.2% | 89.2% | 0.7% |
| 13th Circuit | 34,448 | 3.7% | 10.2% | 0.2% | 84.5% | 1.5% |
| 14th Circuit | 30,317 | 1.8% | 4% | 0.4% | 93.5% | 0.2% |
| 15th Circuit | 21,542 | 0.6% | 21.9% | 0.2% | 76.6% | 0.8% |
| 16th Circuit | 1,312 | 0.7% | 6.9% | 0% | 91.8% | 0.6% |
| 17th Circuit | 12,996 | 1.3% | 2.5% | 0.2% | 96% | 0% |
| 18th Circuit | 11,010 | 0.4% | 18.4% | 0.1% | 80.7% | 0.5% |
| 19th Circuit | 14,185 | 1% | 1.2% | 1% | 95.9% | 0.9% |
| 20th Circuit | 16,023 | 0.3% | 6.6% | 0.4% | 92% | 0.7% |
State Uniform Traffic Control (340,438 charges statewide, 1.3% dismissed, 4% diverted)
| Judicial circuit | Charges | Dismissed | Diversion | Acquitted | Convicted | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Circuit | 25,818 | 2.9% | 3% | 0.7% | 92.9% | 0.5% |
| 2nd Circuit | 5,593 | 1.6% | 10.8% | 0.5% | 84.8% | 2.4% |
| 3rd Circuit | 3,246 | 0.5% | 6.7% | 0.2% | 92.1% | 0.4% |
| 4th Circuit | 27,464 | 0.7% | 0.8% | 0.4% | 98% | 0.1% |
| 5th Circuit | 16,825 | 0.6% | 0.9% | 0.3% | 97.8% | 0.3% |
| 6th Circuit | 40,247 | 1% | 0% | 0.4% | 97.9% | 0.6% |
| 7th Circuit | 27,700 | 2% | 3.2% | 0.2% | 94.4% | 0.2% |
| 8th Circuit | 4,861 | 0.2% | 2.9% | 0.6% | 96% | 0.3% |
| 9th Circuit | 8,592 | 5.8% | 15.5% | 1.1% | 77.3% | 0.3% |
| 10th Circuit | 8,935 | 0.6% | 3.3% | 0.5% | 95.1% | 0.4% |
| 11th Circuit | 8,413 | 1.3% | 14.5% | 0.7% | 83.5% | 0% |
| 12th Circuit | 21,923 | 2.2% | 3% | 0.4% | 94% | 0.4% |
| 13th Circuit | 40,204 | 1.2% | 0.8% | 0.2% | 97.5% | 0.3% |
| 14th Circuit | 17,248 | 1.1% | 2.2% | 0.5% | 96% | 0.2% |
| 15th Circuit | 25,253 | 0.3% | 20% | 0.8% | 78.7% | 0.2% |
| 16th Circuit | 3,373 | 1.5% | 2.4% | 0.2% | 95.8% | 0.1% |
| 17th Circuit | 7,892 | 2.4% | 7.5% | 1% | 89.1% | 0% |
| 18th Circuit | 5,673 | 0.4% | 3.8% | 0.9% | 92.9% | 2% |
| 19th Circuit | 16,792 | 0.3% | 0.3% | 1% | 98.1% | 0.4% |
| 20th Circuit | 24,386 | 0.3% | 1.8% | 0.6% | 97.1% | 0.2% |
Assault; Battery; Culpable Negligence (317,965 charges statewide, 2.7% dismissed, 11.3% diverted)
| Judicial circuit | Charges | Dismissed | Diversion | Acquitted | Convicted | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Circuit | 30,305 | 4.7% | 7.5% | 2.2% | 83.6% | 1.9% |
| 2nd Circuit | 9,589 | 3.8% | 11.1% | 1.8% | 74.1% | 9.2% |
| 3rd Circuit | 2,370 | 0.7% | 3.8% | 1.1% | 92% | 2.4% |
| 4th Circuit | 22,763 | 0.8% | 2.7% | 0.5% | 95.6% | 0.4% |
| 5th Circuit | 19,455 | 1.2% | 11.1% | 1.2% | 84.6% | 1.8% |
| 6th Circuit | 27,510 | 2.2% | 14.8% | 0.9% | 79.7% | 2.4% |
| 7th Circuit | 33,225 | 2.1% | 13.2% | 0.6% | 83.1% | 1% |
| 8th Circuit | 6,762 | 1.1% | 5.6% | 2% | 89% | 2.4% |
| 9th Circuit | 14,710 | 4% | 9.2% | 2.6% | 77.9% | 6.3% |
| 10th Circuit | 11,147 | 2.4% | 7.4% | 2.4% | 84.1% | 3.7% |
| 11th Circuit | 29,002 | 1.7% | 13.6% | 2% | 82.6% | 0% |
| 12th Circuit | 11,729 | 3.1% | 8.5% | 0.9% | 85% | 2.5% |
| 13th Circuit | 24,156 | 7% | 17% | 1.1% | 71.1% | 3.8% |
| 14th Circuit | 23,621 | 2.4% | 6.5% | 1.2% | 89% | 0.8% |
| 15th Circuit | 18,373 | 1.1% | 32.5% | 1.7% | 63.2% | 1.5% |
| 16th Circuit | 1,309 | 1.6% | 9.9% | 1.1% | 86.9% | 0.5% |
| 17th Circuit | 4,866 | 5.2% | 3.7% | 1.5% | 89.6% | 0% |
| 18th Circuit | 4,683 | 2.2% | 17.3% | 1.7% | 76.5% | 2.3% |
| 19th Circuit | 10,485 | 3.8% | 3.3% | 2.3% | 87.9% | 2.7% |
| 20th Circuit | 11,905 | 1.3% | 6.6% | 2.3% | 87.9% | 1.9% |
Burglary and Trespass (286,404 charges statewide, 2.5% dismissed, 3% diverted)
| Judicial circuit | Charges | Dismissed | Diversion | Acquitted | Convicted | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Circuit | 22,575 | 2.7% | 1.7% | 0.5% | 94% | 1.1% |
| 2nd Circuit | 6,448 | 2.6% | 6.5% | 0.6% | 70.7% | 19.6% |
| 3rd Circuit | 1,929 | 0.3% | 1.5% | 0.2% | 96.4% | 1.6% |
| 4th Circuit | 16,882 | 0.3% | 0.5% | 0.1% | 98.8% | 0.3% |
| 5th Circuit | 13,114 | 1.2% | 1.9% | 0.2% | 95.5% | 1.2% |
| 6th Circuit | 28,186 | 2.5% | 1.5% | 0.1% | 94% | 2% |
| 7th Circuit | 28,328 | 1.9% | 3.5% | 0.2% | 93.8% | 0.6% |
| 8th Circuit | 4,455 | 0.8% | 3.8% | 0.4% | 93.6% | 1.4% |
| 9th Circuit | 15,332 | 4.2% | 3% | 0.4% | 86.8% | 5.6% |
| 10th Circuit | 10,183 | 2.4% | 2.2% | 0.3% | 92.1% | 3% |
| 11th Circuit | 33,156 | 4% | 3.5% | 0.5% | 92% | 0% |
| 12th Circuit | 12,772 | 3.4% | 1.9% | 0.3% | 92.3% | 2% |
| 13th Circuit | 26,298 | 4.9% | 4.1% | 0.2% | 88.8% | 2% |
| 14th Circuit | 17,609 | 1.3% | 1.7% | 0.5% | 96.1% | 0.5% |
| 15th Circuit | 17,516 | 1.3% | 10.5% | 0.2% | 86.1% | 1.9% |
| 16th Circuit | 1,621 | 1% | 3.8% | 0.1% | 94.8% | 0.4% |
| 17th Circuit | 7,675 | 2.8% | 1.6% | 0.3% | 95.3% | 0% |
| 18th Circuit | 4,466 | 1.6% | 3.4% | 0.1% | 92% | 2.8% |
| 19th Circuit | 7,908 | 2.1% | 0.9% | 0.8% | 94.1% | 2.1% |
| 20th Circuit | 9,951 | 1.3% | 2.2% | 0.4% | 94.4% | 1.7% |
Obstructing Justice (202,216 charges statewide, 3.4% dismissed, 5.4% diverted)
| Judicial circuit | Charges | Dismissed | Diversion | Acquitted | Convicted | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Circuit | 20,341 | 8.5% | 3.1% | 0.6% | 86.9% | 0.9% |
| 2nd Circuit | 4,320 | 2.8% | 7.5% | 0.7% | 78.4% | 10.6% |
| 3rd Circuit | 2,002 | 0.5% | 3.1% | 0.3% | 94.2% | 1.8% |
| 4th Circuit | 13,353 | 0.3% | 1% | 0.2% | 98.3% | 0.2% |
| 5th Circuit | 9,719 | 3.8% | 3.3% | 0.3% | 91.3% | 1.2% |
| 6th Circuit | 15,485 | 1.2% | 3.6% | 0.2% | 93.2% | 1.8% |
| 7th Circuit | 16,223 | 1.7% | 5.1% | 0.2% | 92.5% | 0.6% |
| 8th Circuit | 2,862 | 0.5% | 6.6% | 0.4% | 92.2% | 0.4% |
| 9th Circuit | 8,338 | 3.5% | 6.5% | 0.5% | 85.2% | 4.3% |
| 10th Circuit | 10,313 | 1.2% | 2.9% | 0.7% | 92.9% | 2.3% |
| 11th Circuit | 20,814 | 4.1% | 7.7% | 0.8% | 87.3% | 0% |
| 12th Circuit | 8,764 | 2.3% | 3.4% | 0.3% | 92.2% | 1.8% |
| 13th Circuit | 15,563 | 3.3% | 6.4% | 0.2% | 88.2% | 1.9% |
| 14th Circuit | 15,018 | 1.7% | 2.9% | 0.4% | 94.5% | 0.5% |
| 15th Circuit | 10,753 | 1% | 25.2% | 0.6% | 71.8% | 1.4% |
| 16th Circuit | 1,107 | 0.7% | 7.7% | 0.3% | 91.1% | 0.3% |
| 17th Circuit | 5,549 | 2.9% | 2% | 0.4% | 94.6% | 0.1% |
| 18th Circuit | 3,943 | 0.7% | 7.5% | 0.3% | 89.7% | 1.8% |
| 19th Circuit | 8,593 | 11.6% | 0.8% | 0.8% | 85.4% | 1.3% |
| 20th Circuit | 9,156 | 6% | 3.6% | 0.7% | 88.8% | 0.9% |
Motor Vehicle Licenses (91,040 charges statewide, 11.5% dismissed, 19.2% diverted)
| Judicial circuit | Charges | Dismissed | Diversion | Acquitted | Convicted | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Circuit | 8,185 | 5.6% | 10.6% | 0.2% | 82.6% | 1% |
| 2nd Circuit | 786 | 2.4% | 51.7% | 0% | 45.3% | 0.6% |
| 3rd Circuit | 866 | 17.1% | 14.3% | 0% | 68.4% | 0.2% |
| 4th Circuit | 5,043 | 8.4% | 0.5% | 0% | 91.1% | 0% |
| 5th Circuit | 5,011 | 1.3% | 0.7% | 0.1% | 97.9% | 0.1% |
| 6th Circuit | 5,810 | 8.9% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 90% | 0.9% |
| 7th Circuit | 3,506 | 13.5% | 6.6% | 0.1% | 79.8% | 0% |
| 8th Circuit | 791 | 0% | 1.1% | 0% | 98.5% | 0.4% |
| 9th Circuit | 8,188 | 58.2% | 0.3% | 0% | 41.3% | 0.1% |
| 10th Circuit | 4,677 | 1.8% | 20.1% | 0.1% | 77.9% | 0.2% |
| 11th Circuit | 600 | 15.2% | 17.8% | 0.2% | 66.8% | 0% |
| 12th Circuit | 6,833 | 7.2% | 14.6% | 0.1% | 78.1% | 0% |
| 13th Circuit | 7,527 | 26.5% | 1.9% | 0% | 71.4% | 0.2% |
| 14th Circuit | 4,828 | 1.5% | 3.4% | 0.2% | 94.8% | 0.1% |
| 15th Circuit | 16,978 | 3.6% | 77.3% | 0% | 19% | 0% |
| 16th Circuit | 265 | 0.4% | 4.9% | 0% | 94.7% | 0% |
| 17th Circuit | 3,607 | 3.6% | 1.7% | 0.2% | 94.5% | 0% |
| 18th Circuit | 1,258 | 6.6% | 0.5% | 0% | 91.7% | 1.3% |
| 19th Circuit | 2,255 | 0.9% | 1.2% | 3.4% | 93.5% | 0.9% |
| 20th Circuit | 4,026 | 0.6% | 4.4% | 0.1% | 94.8% | 0.1% |
Weapons and Firearms (83,415 charges statewide, 1.8% dismissed, 4.5% diverted)
| Judicial circuit | Charges | Dismissed | Diversion | Acquitted | Convicted | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Circuit | 7,029 | 5% | 2.2% | 1.5% | 90.6% | 0.8% |
| 2nd Circuit | 2,421 | 1% | 6.3% | 1.7% | 87.2% | 3.9% |
| 3rd Circuit | 873 | 0% | 3% | 0.6% | 95.2% | 1.3% |
| 4th Circuit | 6,248 | 0.4% | 0.6% | 0.7% | 98.1% | 0.2% |
| 5th Circuit | 3,872 | 1% | 3.5% | 1% | 93.7% | 0.8% |
| 6th Circuit | 5,032 | 1.2% | 4.3% | 0.5% | 92.2% | 1.9% |
| 7th Circuit | 6,309 | 0.9% | 4.9% | 0.3% | 93% | 0.8% |
| 8th Circuit | 1,800 | 0.4% | 4.4% | 0.8% | 93.6% | 0.8% |
| 9th Circuit | 4,845 | 3.6% | 11.6% | 1.5% | 80.5% | 2.8% |
| 10th Circuit | 2,650 | 0.3% | 1.5% | 0.7% | 95.5% | 1.9% |
| 11th Circuit | 12,380 | 1.9% | 2.9% | 1.4% | 93.7% | 0% |
| 12th Circuit | 2,941 | 1% | 3.7% | 0.5% | 93.6% | 1.2% |
| 13th Circuit | 8,924 | 2.9% | 4.9% | 0.5% | 88.6% | 3.2% |
| 14th Circuit | 4,697 | 2.6% | 2.7% | 0.7% | 93.2% | 0.8% |
| 15th Circuit | 4,936 | 0.7% | 16% | 0.6% | 81.5% | 1.1% |
| 16th Circuit | 152 | 1.3% | 13.2% | 0.7% | 84.2% | 0.7% |
| 17th Circuit | 2,142 | 2.1% | 2.5% | 0.6% | 94.8% | 0% |
| 18th Circuit | 1,271 | 0.5% | 6.5% | 1% | 91% | 1.1% |
| 19th Circuit | 2,294 | 0.9% | 0.9% | 1.7% | 95.4% | 1.1% |
| 20th Circuit | 2,599 | 0.6% | 3% | 1.1% | 94.4% | 0.8% |
Arson and Criminal Mischief (74,767 charges statewide, 2% dismissed, 7.2% diverted)
| Judicial circuit | Charges | Dismissed | Diversion | Acquitted | Convicted | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Circuit | 9,253 | 2.9% | 2.9% | 1% | 91.8% | 1.4% |
| 2nd Circuit | 2,221 | 2.8% | 12.5% | 0.8% | 72.7% | 11.2% |
| 3rd Circuit | 591 | 0.5% | 2.9% | 0.3% | 94.8% | 1.5% |
| 4th Circuit | 4,906 | 0.5% | 2.2% | 0.1% | 96.9% | 0.3% |
| 5th Circuit | 3,918 | 0.7% | 7% | 0.8% | 90.1% | 1.3% |
| 6th Circuit | 4,911 | 2% | 8.1% | 0.4% | 86.9% | 2.5% |
| 7th Circuit | 5,623 | 2.2% | 8.6% | 0.4% | 87.7% | 1% |
| 8th Circuit | 1,573 | 0.1% | 5% | 1.1% | 92.1% | 1.8% |
| 9th Circuit | 3,996 | 2.8% | 7.1% | 1.3% | 82.6% | 6.2% |
| 10th Circuit | 2,384 | 2.6% | 5.3% | 1% | 88% | 3.1% |
| 11th Circuit | 11,445 | 1.3% | 7.5% | 1% | 90.3% | 0% |
| 12th Circuit | 2,567 | 2.2% | 7.4% | 0.5% | 87.8% | 2.1% |
| 13th Circuit | 4,940 | 4.3% | 10.2% | 0.4% | 81.4% | 3.6% |
| 14th Circuit | 4,773 | 2.8% | 4.3% | 0.9% | 91.3% | 0.7% |
| 15th Circuit | 3,945 | 0.8% | 24.6% | 0.9% | 71.6% | 2% |
| 16th Circuit | 284 | 0.7% | 6.7% | 0.4% | 90.8% | 1.4% |
| 17th Circuit | 1,404 | 5.1% | 1.6% | 0.6% | 92.5% | 0.1% |
| 18th Circuit | 1,134 | 1.5% | 13.4% | 0.7% | 80.5% | 3.9% |
| 19th Circuit | 2,280 | 1.9% | 2.1% | 1.3% | 92.5% | 2.2% |
| 20th Circuit | 2,619 | 0.9% | 4.2% | 0.6% | 92.8% | 1.6% |
By judicial circuit (all charges)
Disposition rates for all charges in each of Florida's 20 judicial circuits. The across-circuit range is wide, but it reflects differences in the charges filed and local diversion programs as much as anything else. It is not a measure of how tough or lenient a circuit is.
| Judicial circuit | Charges | Dismissed | Diversion | Acquitted | Convicted | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Circuit | 399,979 | 4.7% | 6.8% | 0.6% | 85.9% | 2.1% |
| 2nd Circuit | 82,521 | 2% | 14.3% | 0.8% | 76.3% | 6.5% |
| 3rd Circuit | 34,975 | 2.8% | 6.1% | 0.3% | 90% | 0.8% |
| 4th Circuit | 280,049 | 5.8% | 1.1% | 0.2% | 86.8% | 6.1% |
| 5th Circuit | 249,863 | 2.2% | 4% | 0.4% | 90.4% | 3% |
| 6th Circuit | 355,536 | 1.7% | 3.6% | 0.2% | 84.1% | 10.4% |
| 7th Circuit | 398,621 | 11.8% | 4.6% | 0.2% | 83% | 0.4% |
| 8th Circuit | 62,795 | 0.6% | 4.7% | 0.6% | 92.9% | 1.2% |
| 9th Circuit | 202,473 | 11.3% | 6.8% | 0.7% | 78.9% | 2.3% |
| 10th Circuit | 151,437 | 1.4% | 7.4% | 0.5% | 86.4% | 4.4% |
| 11th Circuit | 358,431 | 7.5% | 6.7% | 0.8% | 84.9% | 0% |
| 12th Circuit | 220,810 | 2.8% | 7.3% | 0.4% | 88.8% | 0.8% |
| 13th Circuit | 324,237 | 4.1% | 7.4% | 0.3% | 86.5% | 1.6% |
| 14th Circuit | 298,986 | 3% | 4.5% | 0.5% | 91.7% | 0.3% |
| 15th Circuit | 298,934 | 1% | 36.4% | 0.3% | 54.6% | 7.7% |
| 16th Circuit | 22,433 | 1.1% | 6.2% | 0.4% | 91.3% | 0.9% |
| 17th Circuit | 88,467 | 3.9% | 2.2% | 0.4% | 93.5% | 0% |
| 18th Circuit | 100,306 | 4.2% | 5.4% | 0.4% | 85.1% | 5% |
| 19th Circuit | 150,386 | 4.4% | 1.1% | 1.7% | 91.2% | 1.6% |
| 20th Circuit | 192,130 | 2.4% | 4.2% | 0.5% | 92.3% | 0.6% |
Cite this analysis
Journalists and researchers, please link to this page as the source, and please preserve the descriptive, not-causal framing when you cite the figures.
BenchRecon, “Florida criminal case disposition outcomes by charge category and judicial circuit” (descriptive, uncontrolled aggregates; FDLE CJDT Clerk-of-Court data, 2026-06-21). https://benchrecon.com/florida/prosecution-outcomes
Download the full aggregate as a CSV file to reproduce or re-analyze any figure. See also the Florida sentencing outcomes by county and charge study, the outcomes by type of representation study, and the Florida criminal statutes reference.
Get the comparables for your charge and county
BenchRecon's Sentencing Comparables work from this same public data, returning the outcome distribution for a specific charge in a specific Florida county, with every figure cited to the underlying record.
Common questions
- What is this data and where does it come from?
- It is a descriptive, uncontrolled aggregate analysis of 4,273,369 charge dispositions from Florida's public FDLE Criminal Justice Data Transparency (CJDT) statewide Clerk-of-Court case data, broken down by how each charge was resolved. It is reproducible from the public source data and identifies no individual.
- How often are criminal charges dismissed in Florida?
- Across the full extract, 4.7% of charges were resolved by a dismissal disposition and 7.4% by pre-trial diversion, while 84.4% ended in a conviction (adjudicated guilty or adjudication withheld). Those are statewide averages pooled over decades; the dismissal share varies widely by judicial circuit and charge category, from about 0.6% to 11.8% across circuits. These are descriptive rates over past records and cannot predict the outcome of any specific case, which depends on its charge, facts, and history.
- Does this show that one circuit or prosecutor's office is tougher or more lenient?
- No. These are descriptive, uncontrolled rates. They are not adjusted for charge severity, evidence strength, criminal history, or the facts of any case. Circuits and counties differ in the mix of offenses charged, local diversion programs, and charging practice, so a higher or lower dismissal or conviction rate reflects who and what is in each group at least as much as anything a prosecutor or court did. Nothing here measures the performance of any office, prosecutor, or judge.
- Why isn't 'nolle prosequi' or a declination rate shown?
- Because this is clerk-of-court disposition data: it records how the court resolved each charge (dismissed, diverted, acquitted, or convicted), not the separate decision a state attorney makes to file, decline, or nolle prosequi a charge. The source disposition field contains no nolle-prosequi or no-information value, so this study reports only the dismissal, diversion, acquittal, and conviction families it can verify from the data, and makes no declination claim it cannot.
- How are the disposition families defined, and are the rates exact?
- Each charge falls into exactly one family. Dismissed includes ordinary dismissals plus speedy-trial dismissals, dismissals upon payment of restitution or costs, and declines to adjudicate. Diversion is pre-trial diversion or intervention. Acquitted includes acquittal by reason of insanity. Convicted means the court adjudicated guilt or withheld adjudication after a finding or plea of guilt. Everything else (civil/non-criminal, transfers, change of venue, and similar) is reported as an other/procedural remainder so the families sum to 100% per cell. The rates are exact shares of the recorded dispositions in each cell.
- Why are some circuits or cells missing from a charge category?
- Any individual cell with fewer than 10 charges is suppressed for statistical reliability and privacy. A circuit with too few charges of a given category in the extract is therefore omitted from that category's table.
- Can I use these figures for a specific case?
- No. These are unadjusted statewide, circuit, and county aggregates and cannot predict any specific case, which depends on its charge, facts, and history. For sentencing comparables tailored to a specific charge and county, see the Sentencing Comparables tool, which works from the same public data and cites every figure.