Complaint Review Units
Generally, criminal complaint requests arrive at our offices from
law enforcement agencies. The Complaint Review Unit is responsible
for reviewing the reports for criminal conduct and for determining
whether or not the evidence warrants filing of a felony, misdemeanor
or infraction. If the complaint review deputy believes that sufficient
evidence exists, a complaint is filed; if not, prosecution is declined
or additional information and investigation is requested from the
law enforcement agency.
Within the criminal division there are areas of specialty to which
attorneys are assigned. These include among others, domestic violence,
sexual assault, elder abuse, gangs and three strikes prosecutions.
Often the filing review decision will be done by the attorneys assigned
to these specialty units.
Please contact [Click on City to see Map] :
OVERVIEW - Complaint
Review Analysis
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FELONY FILINGS. Decreased
6.8% in the last 5 years. First overall decrease
in over 10 years. Santa Barbara decreased 25%,
while Santa Maria/Lompoc/
Solvang rose 21.9%. This is an exact reversal
of the previous 3-year pattern.
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INFRACTIONS. Citation
use continues to expand from first year 962
figure to over 4,000 annually.
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MISDEMEANOR FILINGS.
Down another 17% in the last 4 years. North
County decreases were the largest (over 22%).
Continued decreases in DUI cases and increased
use of infractions played a large part in these
reductions.
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DUI's. Since 1990 filings
have dropped from 5,882 annually to just 3,291
last year. This is a 54.4% decrease during the
90's and another 20% in just 5 years.
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