Under subcontract with the Jefferson Institute, ILJ staff were involved in a study of the cost of processing offenders through the criminal justice system. The study was initiated in the fall of 1983. It examined the cost of processing offenders to various exit points of the criminal justice system (e.g., failure to prosecute, diversion, guilty plea, trial, probation, incarceration, parole). In the course of the study at four sites, ILJ examined operations, procedures, and detailed costs of courts of limited jurisdiction, courts of general jurisdiction, jails, probation offices, and state correctional systems. The study produced average costs for processing offenders to terminal points in the criminal justice system.