News Releases

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced today the launch of a centralized charge evaluation system to ensure greater consistency and fairness in filing decisions being made by deputy district attorneys working across Los Angeles County. 

“We’re centralizing the decision-making process to ensure that the same conduct leads to similar results regardless of where a crime occurs in Los Angeles County,” District Attorney Gascón said. “Consistency in the initial case evaluation and filing is essential to achieving equal justice for all people in our county.” 

As of November 1, criminal cases in the three Central Trials Divisions in downtown Los Angeles, the East Los Angeles, Van Nuys and Antelope Valley courthouses are being filed using the new centralized system. By January, case filings in the Compton, Pomona, El Monte, West Covina, San Fernando, Santa Clarita, Torrance and Inglewood courthouses will be centralized, followed by those in the Airport, Long Beach, Norwalk, Bellflower, Downey, Metro, Pasadena, Glendale, Burbank and Alhambra courthouses on or about March 1, 2022. 

Roughly 680 cases a day are presented for filing consideration by law enforcement agencies. Most are reviewed and either filed or declined for criminal prosecution by deputy district attorneys assigned to the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center and branch and area courthouses throughout Los Angeles County. They will continue to work in local courthouses but report to the Head Deputy District Attorney of the Charge Evaluation Division. 

Cases submitted for evaluation to specialized units, such as the Family Violence and Community Violence Reduction divisions, will continue to be reviewed for filing consideration by the same deputy district attorneys who handle all aspects of the case from filing to disposition. 

Centralized filing metrics will be developed and studies will be conducted to measure progress.