Federal Sentencing · National · FY2024

Highest Departure Rates

The U.S. federal districts that most often sentence outside the guideline range in FY2024, ranked from USSC case-level data against the 43.0% national within-guidelines rate.

88%
Top departure rate: 43%
National within-guidelines FY2024: 20
Districts ranked

According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC), more than 61,000 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.

"Departure rate" here counts how often a district's sentences fall outside the calculated guideline range - it does not by itself measure lax or defiant judges. Most departures nationwide are government-sponsored reductions for substantial assistance (cooperation with prosecutors), so a district's rate reflects its cooperation culture and offense mix along with judicial practice, not judicial character alone.

The verdict

The Colorado district departed from the federal sentencing guidelines more than any other in FY2024: 88.3% of sentences fell outside the guideline range, versus 57.0% nationally.

88.3%
sentences outside guidelines: 11.7%
within-guideline rate: 57.0%
U.S. departure rate FY2024

For educational and research purposes only. Not legal advice. Departure rates include upward departures, downward departures, and Booker variances.

Colorado

88.3
Oregon

88.3
Central California

86.4
New Mexico

86.3
Southern Ohio

84.4
Northern California

81.3
Massachusetts

80.9
Minnesota

79.6
New Hampshire

79.2
Southern New York

78.8
Northern New York

78.3
Western Wisconsin

78.2
Maine

77.6
Guam

77.6
Connecticut

76.8

What this shows Colorado had the highest below-guideline departure rate in FY2024 at 88.3% of classifiable cases. High departure rates typically reflect heavy use of substantial assistance motions (cooperation agreements with prosecutors).

Rank	District	Circuit	Cases	% Departure	% Within GL	Above	Below
#1	Colorado Colorado	10th	477	88.3%	11.7%	2%	86%
#2	Oregon Oregon	9th	317	88.3%	11.7%	1%	87%
#3	Central California California	9th	521	86.4%	13.6%	4%	82%
#4	New Mexico New Mexico	10th	2,634	86.3%	13.7%	2%	85%
#5	Southern Ohio Ohio	6th	286	84.4%	15.6%	7%	78%
#6	Northern California California	9th	271	81.3%	18.7%	3%	79%
#7	Massachusetts Massachusetts	1st	109	80.9%	19.1%	3%	78%
#8	Minnesota Minnesota	8th	577	79.6%	20.4%	3%	77%
#9	New Hampshire New Hampshire	1st	118	79.2%	20.8%	2%	77%
#10	Southern New York New York	2nd	1,048	78.8%	21.2%	2%	77%
#11	Northern New York New York	2nd	727	78.3%	21.7%	3%	75%
#12	Western Wisconsin Wisconsin	7th	333	78.2%	21.8%	2%	77%
#13	Maine Maine	1st	531	77.6%	22.4%	2%	75%
#14	Guam Guam	9th	653	77.6%	22.4%	3%	74%
#15	Connecticut Connecticut	2nd	249	76.8%	23.2%	4%	72%
#16	Utah Utah	10th	926	76.0%	24.0%	3%	73%
#17	Eastern Virginia Virginia	4th	449	75.8%	24.2%	4%	72%
#18	New Jersey New Jersey	3rd	165	75.5%	24.5%	3%	73%
#19	Eastern Michigan Michigan	6th	117	75.2%	24.8%	7%	69%
#20	Southern Illinois Illinois	7th	249	72.9%	27.1%	6%	67%

The bar to make the 20 highest-departure districts (FY2024)

Every rankable district by guideline-departure rate (% of cases sentenced outside the range); the marker is the 72.9% cutoff needed to reach this list.

73 76th percentile higher than 76% of 88 federal districts

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more federal districts. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles · FY2024

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.

What this means

Departure rates reveal how often judges in a district step outside the guidelines, and why the direction is almost always downward.

Most departures are government-sponsored and downward. Across the federal system, the most common departure is a prosecutor's motion for reduction based on substantial assistance (USSG §5K1.1). Districts with strong cooperation cultures in white-collar, narcotics, or gang cases rank high on below-guideline departure rates.
Above-guideline departures are rare nationwide. Upward departures typically reflect aggravating factors the guidelines didn't anticipate, not general judicial severity. A district with a high upward-departure rate often handles specific offense patterns (repeat offenders, crimes against children) that trigger guideline departures. See harshest districts
Post-Booker, departures and variances blend together. Since the Supreme Court's 2005 ruling made the guidelines advisory, judges can impose any sentence citing §3553(a) factors. Modern USSC data combines true guideline departures with §3553(a) variances, so "departure rate" is best read as judicial willingness to move from the guideline range. Read about Booker

For educational and research purposes only. "Above GL" = upward departure; "Below GL" = downward departure; "Booker" = §3553(a) variance. Source: U.S. Sentencing Commission, FY2024.

Cite this page

Free to cite and reference with attribution. Figures update automatically as new data is published, compiled from the public-domain USSC datafiles.

PlainSentencing. (FY2024). Federal Districts by Guideline Departure Rate. PlainSentencing. Retrieved from https://plainsentencing.com/rankings/departures/. Data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC) Individual Offender Datafiles; public domain (CC0).

Compiled by PlainSentencing Editorial , Federal Sentencing Disparity Editorial Team · June 21, 2026