Felony Review
When an individual is arrested for a felony crime, the case is referred to the Cook County State's Attorney's Office for review and approval of charges. The State’s Attorney’s Office will review the evidence presented to determine if the filing of a felony case in the Circuit Court is appropriate and, if so, the appropriate charges to be filed. Felony cases reviewed by the State's Attorney may be approved, rejected, or continued for additional investigation. Misdemeanor crimes - as well as felony drug offenses and some weapons offenses - are direct filed in court by law enforcement and do not go through the pre-filing felony review process.
Information on felony review comes from the Cook County State's Attorney's Office case management system. Data on this site are based on the most detailed information available at the time of publication and are intended to show general patterns in cases referred for felony review and outcomes of felony review. For more details on the data, read our Glossary.
Felony cases reviewed by the State's Attorney may be approved, rejected, or continued for additional investigation. This section shows data on the number of felony cases reviewed by the Cook County State's Attorney's Office.
Felony Review Outcomes (2025)
