Highest Departure Rates
According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC), more than 64,000 individuals were sentenced in U.S. federal courts in fiscal year 2024 under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, with the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 establishing the modern framework. The USSC Annual Report and Sourcebook of Federal Sentencing Statistics are published every March and cover all 94 U.S. district courts. See our methodology for refresh cadence.
Districts most often departing from Sentencing Guidelines · FY2024 · National within-guidelines: 17.5%
| Rank | District | Circuit | Cases | % Departure | % Within GL | Above | Below | Booker |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Oregon Oregon | 9th | 317 | 28.1% | 5.0% | 28% | 0% | 0% |
| #2 | Western Virginia Virginia | 4th | 827 | 21.6% | 4.2% | 22% | 0% | 0% |
| #3 | Western North Carolina North Carolina | 4th | 777 | 18.7% | 8.4% | 19% | 0% | 0% |
| #4 | Southern Georgia Georgia | 11th | 439 | 13.9% | 5.2% | 14% | 0% | 0% |
| #5 | Southern Mississippi Mississippi | 5th | 367 | 12.5% | 11.2% | 13% | 0% | 0% |
| #6 | Northern Mississippi Mississippi | 5th | 428 | 12.4% | 4.7% | 12% | 0% | 0% |
| #7 | Middle Georgia Georgia | 11th | 230 | 8.7% | 2.6% | 9% | 0% | 0% |
| #8 | Rhode Island Rhode Island | 1st | 1,120 | 8.6% | 5.6% | 9% | 0% | 0% |
| #9 | Eastern Arkansas Arkansas | 8th | 8,035 | 8.5% | 46.7% | 8% | 0% | 0% |
| #10 | Eastern Louisiana Louisiana | 5th | 342 | 8.2% | 5.8% | 8% | 0% | 0% |
| #11 | Virgin Islands Virgin Islands | 3rd | 536 | 8.2% | 12.5% | 8% | 0% | 0% |
| #12 | Western Washington Washington | 9th | 340 | 7.6% | 5.0% | 8% | 0% | 0% |
| #13 | Massachusetts Massachusetts | 1st | 109 | 7.3% | 6.4% | 7% | 0% | 0% |
| #14 | Eastern New York New York | 2nd | 507 | 7.3% | 35.7% | 7% | 0% | 0% |
| #15 | Northern Iowa Iowa | 8th | 226 | 7.1% | 4.9% | 7% | 0% | 0% |
| #16 | Middle Louisiana Louisiana | 5th | 285 | 7.0% | 4.6% | 7% | 0% | 0% |
| #17 | Hawaii Hawaii | 9th | 687 | 6.6% | 10.0% | 7% | 0% | 0% |
| #18 | Kansas Kansas | 10th | 783 | 6.3% | 1.4% | 6% | 0% | 0% |
| #19 | Southern Florida Florida | 11th | 260 | 6.2% | 6.9% | 6% | 0% | 0% |
| #20 | Eastern Texas Texas | 5th | 322 | 6.2% | 11.2% | 6% | 0% | 0% |
About departures: "Above GL" = upward departure (longer than guidelines). "Below GL" = downward departure (shorter than guidelines). "Booker" = post-United States v. Booker variance where judges impose outside the guidelines range under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors.
Source: United States Sentencing Commission, FY2024. Districts with 100+ cases included.