ORS: Data Submission-Death in Custody

ORS: Data Submission Home

The Office of Research and Statistics (ORS) facilitates the submission of data mandated by the Death in Custody Reporting Act (DCRA; Public Law 113-242) which requires states to report to the U.S. Attorney General information regarding the death of any person who is either detained, under arrest, in the process of being arrested, en route to be incarcerated, or is incarcerated at a municipal or county jail, state prison, state-run boot camp prison, boot camp prison that is contracted out by the state, or any state or local contract facility, or other local or state correctional facility (including any juvenile facility). These death-in-custody data were previously captured by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS).

In 2019, the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) took over the aggregation of state and local mortality data on behalf of the Department of Justice. State Administering Agencies (SAAs) continue to be responsible for collecting these data on a quarterly basis from state and local entities including law enforcement agencies, local jails, correctional institutions, medical examiners, and other state agencies. SAAs then compile and submit the data to BJA as part of their Justice Assistance Grant reporting.

In Colorado, the required data is reported to the Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ), which is the SAA for the state. Reports are submitted through the Laserfiche system. Instructions to request access credentials and the link to submit data are provided below. After data is submitted, it will be reviewed for approval by DCJ. If there are questions, DCJ will contact the submitter for clarifications or corrections.

Please note that reporting is required for all persons:

1. Detained
2. Under arrest
3. In the process of being arrested 
4. En route to be incarcerated
5. Incarcerated at a municipal or county jail, state prison, state-run boot camp prison, boot camp prison that is contracted out by the state, or any state or local contract facility, or other local or state correctional facility (including any juvenile facility)
6. Please complete this form

Request access to the Laserfiche system by completing the form at the following link: https://portal.laserfiche.com/t5150/forms/LFRequest_General. Please allow 1 to 2 business days for our team to process your Access Request. You can expect an email from Laserfiche Cloud to verify your email address and setup your password during that time.

After you have received access credentials, click on this button to log in and complete the DCRA Reporting Form (opens in a new tab): 

FORM-Death in Custody Reporting Act (DCRA)