How to use the Charge Maintenance?
What is the Charge Maintenance?
The Charge maintenance screen is where new charges can be added or removed, variables can be defined, victims can be added or removed to charges, in addition to defining the data for each charge.
By default, the Charge maintenance screen will only list the current sequence of charges.
How to access the Charge Maintenance from the Charge Tab?
From the Charge tab, users can click on the Add/Edit button to open the Charge maintenance screen.
What actions are available in the Charge Maintenance screen?
On the charge maintenance screen users will be able to:
- Add new charges
- Edit current charges
- Remove charges
- Define values for charge variables
- Add/define Defendants
- Add/define Victims
- Dispose of single charges
- Multiply charges
- Reorder Charges
Users
will not be able to dispose an entire case through the charge tab; they will need to go
to the Disposition wizard.
Charge Maintenance Actions:
How to add a new charge?
Users can add a new charge by selecting the add/edit button on the Charge tab, then selecting Add New Charge.
When adding a new charge or editing a charge the users will have the option to fill out the following information:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Count | The charge count number |
| Sec Stat No | Is the internal code used for charges |
| Description | The charge description |
| Statute No. | The statute number |
| Drugs | Indicates if a charge is related to Drugs |
| Weapons | Indicates if a charge is related to Weapons |
| Firearm | Indicates if a charge is related to Firearm |
| Degree | The charge degree (1st, 2nd,3rd, PBL) |
| Charge Level | The charge level (usually 1-10) |
| Charge Time | The time period for the charge (usually On or about) |
| Begin Date | The date of the offense (defaults to the offense date in the Event table) |
| End Date | The date the offense ended |
| FDLE Level | The charge level according to FDLE |
| Citation No | The number of a citation if one was issued |
| Variable | Indicates if there are variables to be filled out |
| Defendants | Indicates the defendants related to the charge |
| Victims | Display the victim’s name |
| Modifier1 | The first charge modifier. There are three additional modifiers if needed |
| LI Sec Stat No | A lesser included charge if this count is pled to a lesser charge |
| LI Description | The description of the lesser charge |
| Special Instructions | Instructions to attorneys about when to use the selected statute |
| Bond Amount | Bond amount set for that charge |
| Bond Type | The type of bond (cash, ROR, etc) |
| Drug Name | The name of the drug-related to that charge (Introduced with Data Transparency |
How to edit a charge?
Users can edit a charge by selecting the pencil icon next to a charge, or by right clicking on the screen and choosing to Edit.
Both options will open a screen to allow the user to edit the information of the charge selected.
How to delete a charge?
Users can delete a charge by selecting the trash icon next to a charge, or by right clicking on the screen and choosing to Delete.
Both options will delete the charge selected and remove it from the Sequence.
If the user cancels out of the Charge maintenance screen without saving, STAC will still reflect the last sequence. The deleted charges will only be deleted after the user selects Save on the Charge Maintenance screen.
How to add a defendant to a charge?
All charges need to have a Defendant assigned to the charge. If the case only has a single defendant, then the defendant is automatically added to the charge once it is created.
If users are working on a consolidated case with multiple defendants, the user will need to add a Defendant to the charge before saving the new sequence of charges.
To assign the Defendant to a charge, Right click on the charge > Add Defendant > Choose the defendant > Save
How to add a victim to a charge?
To add/remove a Victim to a charge, Right click on the charge > Add Victim > Choose the victim > Save
Users will only be able to select Victims that are related to the case. The directory must be a relationship on the case and have the victim flag checked in order to be added as a victim to a charge in the case.
There is a validation that does not allow users to delete a Victim that is related to a current Charge. The user will get a warning and will need to first unrelate/delete the victim from the Charge before being able to delete the Victim from the case.
How to dispose a charge from the Charge maintenance screen?
From the charge maintenance screen users can dispose of a charge in the case. This option allows disposing of almost all charges in a case, but this option requires at least one charge to remain open.
To dispose of the whole case, users should use the Disposition wizard.After disposing of these charges and saving the remaining charges, the system will create a new sequence with the current charges, and the disposed charges will be displayed in the previous sequence with their respective disposition date, action, and reason.
How to multiply charges?
There are some cases that have multiple instances of the same charge. In this case, the multiplier screen can help by adding multiple copies of the highlighted charge.
The screen will promptly ask the user how many copies they want to add from the current highlighted charge. This option can add hundreds of new counts if needed.
To multiply charges, select the charge > right click > Multiply > Add the amount > select OK
How to add values to charge variables?
Charges can have no variables or multiple variables defined. If the charge has variables, then a user can enter the specific values for each variable for each charge.
User will know a Charge has Merge variables associated to it by the down arrow Infront of the charge.
To add or edit the variable values, select the arrow > select the pencil icon next to the variable > add the value > Save
How to reorder charge counts?
This option facilitates renumbering the charges when they ended up with an incorrect order.
To reorder the charges, the users are able to drag and drop the charges in the correct order by using the 3 horizontal line icons.
To reorder the charges, the users are able to drag and drop the charges in the correct order by using the 3 horizontal line icons.
Users will see the count numbers automatically updated once the charge was dropped into a different order.
How to view special instructions from charges?
When creating statutes, users can add a special instruction that is attached to the Statute.
When there is a special instruction listed for a statute, the I icon displays the full content of the instructions.
How to save new charges?
Once the user's changes are in place, it is time to save their charges. After clicking the SAVE button, there will be a screen for them to define the Charge Type and choose if they would like to refile the case. If the suer chooses to refile the case, they will get more options to define what the case will be refilled as and the date it is filed.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Charge Type | Indicates the type of the new sequence (FILED, AMENDED, REOPENED, etc) |
| Refile case | This option creates a new FILED event when checked |
| Filed as | Is the subtype of the Filed event that can be created if the Refile option is checked (this option will only appear if the Refile case is checked) |
| File Date | Is the date of the Filed event that can be created if the Refile option is checked (this option will only appear if the Refile case is checked) |
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