McAllister William author Columbia University. Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy Atchinson James author Jacobs Nancy author Columbia University. Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy originator text Articles 1991 English Case processing tends to be examined with data analysis or evaluation designs. Both limit our understanding of how case processing as a whole operates and how its parts relate to each other. This article suggests queue simulation modeling as a method for dealing with these issues. We report here the initial development and analysis of a queuing model of arraignment to trial assignment. Conceptualizing on the basis of court functions and empirical findings, rather than institutional structures, we conceive a five-stage pretrial process. Using case-level, rather than system-level data, we construct a single-server, multiphase queuing model and use the model to simulate the behavior of a pretrial case processing system. Simulations show the strong impact of the final phase (trial assignment) on the entire system and that most of this impact is delay rather than service. The system is then analyzed using a factorial design that systematically alters model parameters thought to be important determinants of performance. Simulations are run for each possibility in the design, and analysis of variance is used to examine results. Analysis confirms prior results concerning final phase impact and points specifically to the import of phase capacity and exit rate. The utility of modeling is considered by suggesting some policy implications of the results for judicial staffing and behavior. Organizational behavior Criminology 7 3 291 314 1991-09 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01063235 http://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:14212 NNC NNC 2012-07-23 16:25:52 -0400 2012-07-27 14:23:08 -0400 8219 eng