D.C. Sentencing Commission reports 50% rise in felony counts; cites data-access and IT limits

The D.C. Sentencing Commission told the Council’s Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety on Feb. 3 that felony counts sentenced in Superior Court rose about 50% in 2024 and that the commission faces continuing barriers to full data access and modern IT capacity.

The commission’s executive director, Lyndon Frey, gave the update at a public oversight hearing chaired by Councilmember Brooke Pinto. Frey said the total number of counts sentenced increased by 50% in 2024 and that cases and individuals sentenced rose by about 47%. He told the committee those figures were “a fairly dramatic increase.”

That trend came with a high level of compliance with the commission’s voluntary guidelines: 98.4% of felony counts complied with the guidelines in 2024, and 95.5% of counts were sentenced within the recommended ranges, Frey said.

Why it matters: sentencing trends and how offenses are ranked influence judges’ options and public-safety policy. Committee members pressed the commission on new offenses from the Secure DC legislation, how those offenses were ranked on the commission’s grid and what data limitations mean for future rulemaking and analysis.

Frey said the commission ranked 22 new offenses and enhancements from Secure DC last year and that that process now sometimes begins while the Council…