A Project of the University of California Irvine Newkirk Center for Science & Society,
University of Michigan Law School & Michigan State University College of Law

2,679 exonerations since 1989
More than 24,150 Years Lost

Conviction Integrity Units

A Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) is a division of a prosecutorial office that works to prevent, identify, and remedy false convictions. They are sometimes called Conviction Review Units (CRUs).

Several Conviction Integrity Units have accomplished a great deal in a short period of time, and there has certainly been an uptick in the number of offices that claim to have formed CIUs. It is still too soon to know whether this trend will produce a change in the way prosecutors operate generally. For more information on the history of CIUs, please see the annual report excerpts linked below.

Guide to the Registry's List of CIUs
The Registry maintains two lists:

(A) CIUs with recorded exonerations, and
(B) CIUS with no exonerations recorded.

Each table is sorted by state, and the units are listed alphabetically by county.

Clicking the "County" name hyperlink will take you directly to that unit's website, or the website of that State/District Attorney's office, if they do not have a dedicated webpage to their CIU.

Clicking the "Exonerations" hyperlink will take you to an up-to-date exoneration count.
The following tables reflect data recorded in the Registry as of August 13, 2020.

A. OPERATIONAL CIUs with RECORDED Exonerations

County	ST	Address	Founding Date	Exonerations
1. Los Angeles	CA	Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office 211 West Temple Street Suite 1200 Los Angeles, CA 90012	2015	Link
2. Merced	CA	Merced County District Attorney's Office 550 W. Main Street Merced, CA 95340	2017	Link
3. Riverside	CA	Riverside County District Attorney’s Office Conviction Review Committee 3960 Orange Street Riverside, CA 92501	2015	Link
4. Sacramento	CA	Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office Justice, Training and Integrity Unit 901 G Street Sacramento, CA 95814	2013	Link
5. San Diego	CA	San Diego County District Attorney’s Office PO Box 121011 San Diego, CA 92112-1011	2016	Link
6. Santa Clara	CA	County of Santa Clara - Office of the District Attorney 70 West Hedding Street San Jose, CA 95110	2002	Link
7. Ventura	CA	Ventura County Government Center Hall of Justice 800 S. Victoria Avenue, Suite 314 Ventura, CA 93009	2012	Link
8. 4th Circuit Duval, Clay & Nassau Cos.	FL	State Attorney’s Office Conviction Integrity Review 311 W. Monroe St. Jacksonville, FL 32202	2018	Link
9. Cook	IL	Conviction Integrity Unit Cook County State's Attorney 50 W. Washington Street Suite 2700 Chicago, IL 60602	2012	Link
10. Lake	IL	Prosecution Protocol & Conviction Review Unit Lake County State's Attorney's Office 18 N. County Street, 5th Floor Waukegan, IL 60085	2013	Link
11. Baltimore City	MD	Office of the State's Attorney 120 East Baltimore Street, 9th Floor Baltimore, MD 21202	2012	Link
12. Middlesex	MA	Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office 15 Commonwealth Avenue Woburn, MA 01801	2013	Link
13. Suffolk	MA	Suffolk County District Attorney One Bulfinch Place Boston, MA 02114	2012	Link
14. Wayne	MI	Wayne County Prosecutor's Office Conviction Integrity Unit Frank Murphy Hall of Justice 1441 St Antoine, Detroit, MI 48226	2018	Link
15. St. Louis Co.	MO	Office of the Prosecuting Attorney 100 South Central Avenue, Second Floor Clayton, MO 63105	2019	Link
16. Clark	NV	Office of the District Attorney 200 Lewis Avenue Las Vegas, NV 89101	2016	Link
17. Bronx	NY	The Office of the Bronx County District Attorney 198 E. 161st Street Bronx, New York 10451	2016	Link
18. Erie	NY	Erie County District Attorney's Office 25 Delaware Avenue Buffalo, New York 14202	2018	Link
19. Kings	NY	The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office 350 Jay Street Brooklyn, NY 11201	2011	Link
20. Nassau	NY	Nassau County District Attorney’s Office 262 Old Country Road Mineola, New York, NY 11501	2013	Link
21. New York	NY	Manhattan District Attorney's Office One Hogan Place New York, NY 10013	2010	Link
22. Putnam	NY	Putnam County Office of the District Attorney 40 Gleneida Ave Carmel, NY 10512	2016	Link
23. Suffolk	NY	Conviction Integrity Bureau Suffolk County District Attorney's Office William J. Lindsay County Complex - Bldg. 77 Veterans Memorial Highway Hauppauge, NY 11788	2018	Link
24. Cuyahoga	OH	Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office The Justice Center, Courts Tower 1200 Ontario Street, 9th Floor Cleveland, Ohio 44113	2014	Link
25. Multnomah	OR	Multnomah County District Attorney Multnomah County Courthouse 1021 SW Fourth Avenue Portland, OR 97204	2014	Link
26. Philadelphia	PA	Office of the District Attorney Three South Penn Square Philadelphia, PA 19107-3499	2014	Link
27. Bexar	TX	County of Bexar District Attorney's Office 101 W. Nueva Paul Elizondo Tower, 4th Floor San Antonio, TX 78205	2015	Link
28. Dallas	TX	Frank Crowley Courts Building Dallas County District Attorney’s Office 133 N. Riverfront Boulevard, LB 19 Dallas, TX 75207	2007	Link
29. Harris	TX	Office of District Attorney, Harris County 500 Jefferson Street Houston, Texas 77002	2009	Link
30. Tarrant	TX	Criminal District Attorney's Office Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center 401 West Belknap Fort Worth, Texas 76196	2015	Link
31. Travis	TX	Travis County District Attorney's Office PO Box 1748 Austin, TX 78767	2017	Link
Total CIU Exonerations				Link

NOTE: In addition to the CIUs listed above, the Orleans Parish, LA CIU that operated from 2014-2016 participated in 1 exoneration.

B. CIUS WITH No Exonerations RECORDED

County	ST	Address	Founding Date
1. Pima	AZ	Deputy County Attorney Rick Unklesbay Conviction Integrity Chief Pima County Attorney's Office Legal Services Building 32 N. Stone Avenue Tucson, Arizona 85701	2014
2. Maricopa	AZ	Maricopa County Attorney's Office 225 West Madison Street Phoenix, AZ 85003	2020
3. Alameda	CA	Office of the Alameda County District Attorney Conviction Integrity Unit René C. Davidson Courthouse 1225 Fallon Street, Room 900 Oakland, CA 94612	Unknown
4. Contra Costa	CA	Contra Costa District Attorney Conviction Integrity Unit 900 Ward Street, Second Floor Martinez, CA 94553	2019
5. Napa	CA	Napa County District Attorney's Office Conviction Integrity Unit 1127 First Street, Suite C Napa, CA 94559	2020
6. Nevada	CA	Nevada County District Attorney's Office 201 Commercial Street Nevada City, CA 95959	2017
7. Orange	CA	Office of the District Attorney 401 Civic Center Drive West Santa Ana, California 92701	2019
8. San Bernardino	CA	San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office ATTN: Conviction Review Unit 303 W. Third Street San Bernardino, CA 92415	2016
9. San Francisco	CA	San Francisco District Attorney’s Office 350 Rhode Island Street North Building, Suite 400N San Francisco, CA 94103	2016
10. Yolo	CA	Yolo County District Attorney's Office 301 Second Street Woodland, CA 95695	2014
11. Arapahoe	CO	ATTN: Conviction Review Unit 18th Judicial District - Office of the District Attorney 6450 S. Revere Parkway Centennial, CO 80111	2019
12. Boulder	CO	Office of the District Attorney, Twentieth Judicial District Conviction Integrity Unit 1777 6th Street Boulder, CO 80302	2018
13. District of Columbia	DC	Special Proceedings Division/Conviction Integrity Unit United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia 555 Fourth Street, Northwest Washington, D.C. 20530	2014
14. 9th Circuit Orange and Osceola Cos.	FL	Office of the State Attorney Ninth Judicial Circuit Attn: Conviction Integrity and Accountability Unit 415 N. Orange Ave Orlando, FL 32801	2018
15. 13th Circuit Hillsborough Co.	FL	State Attorney’s Office Attn: Conviction Review Unit 419 N. Pierce Street Tampa, Florida 33602	2018
16. 15th Circuit Palm Beach Co.	FL	State Attorney’s Office Attn: Conviction Review Unit 401 North Dixie Highway West Palm Beach, FL 33401	2020
17. 17th Circuit Broward Co.	FL	Broward County Judicial Complex 201 Southeast 6th Street, Suite 07150 Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301	2019
18. Fulton	GA	Fulton County District Attorney’s Office 136 Pryor Street SW Atlanta, GA 30303	2019
19. Kankakee	IL	Kankakee County State's Attorney's Office 450 E. Court Street - 3rd floor Kankakee, IL 60901	2020
20. Wyandotte	KS	Office of the Wyandotte County District Attorney 710 N. 7th Street, Suite 10 Kansas City, Kansas 66101-3051	2019
21. Wicomico	MD	Office of the State's Attorney for Wicomico County 309 East Main Street P.O. Box 1006 Salisbury, MD 21803	2020
22. Statewide (Michigan) *Run by the Michigan Attorney General's Office	MI	Department of Attorney General, Michigan Criminal Appellate Division, Conviction Integrity Unit G. Mennen Williams Building 525 W. Ottawa Street P.O. Box 30212 Lansing, MI 48909	2019
23. Jackson	MO	Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney Conviction Review Unit 415 E. 12th Street, 11th Floor Kansas City, Missouri 64106	Unknown
24. St. Louis City	MO	The Circuit Attorney's Office Carnahan Courthouse 1114 Market Street, Room 401 St. Louis, MO 63101	2019
25. Statewide (New Jersey) *Run by the New Jersey Attorney General's Office	NJ	Office of The Attorney General Office of Public Integrity & Accountability PO Box 085 Trenton, NJ 08625-0080	2019
26. Monroe	NY	District Attorney’s Office 47 S. Fitzhugh Street Rochester, NY 14614	2019
27. Oneida	NY	Oneida County District Attorney’s Office 235 Elizabeth Street Utica, New York 13501	2013
28. Orange	NY	Orange County District Attorney's Office Orange County Government Center 255 Main Street Goshen, New York 10924	2016
29. Ulster	NY	Ulster County District Attorney's Office Ulster County Courthouse 275 Wall Street Kingston, NY 12401	2019
30. Queens	NY	Conviction Integrity Unit Queens County District Attorney's Office 125-01 Queens Blvd. Kew Gardens, NY 11415	2019
31. Summit	OH	Summit County Prosecutor's Office 53 University Ave # 6 Akron, OH 44308	2019
32. Statewide (Pennsylvania) *Run by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office	PA	Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General Strawberry Square Harrisburg, PA 17120	2020
33. Davidson	TN	Office of the District Attorney General Washington Square, Suite 500 222 2nd Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37201	2016
34. Salt Lake	UT	Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office Conviction Review Unit 33 East 500 South Salt Lake City, UT 84111	2018

NOTE: Utah Co., UT was removed from this list in 2020 when our national survey could not confirm an active unit. In addition to the listed CIUs, the State of New Jersey Office of the Public Defender opened a unit that is named a "Conviction Integrity Unit" in 2018 that provides representation for indigent defendants who file a post-conviction relief (PCR) petition.

ANNUAL Report Excerpts

Professional Exonerators (Excerpt from Exonerations in 2017 Report) - 14 March 2018
This excerpt from the 2017 Report reviews 33 Conviction Integrity Units existing at the end of 2017 and discusses the impact of both CIUs and Innocence Organizations on exonerations. Read more.

Conviction Integrity Units (Excerpt from Exonerations in 2016 Report) - 7 March 2017
In this excerpt from the 2016 Report, we review the 29 Conviction Integrity Units in existence as of 2016. As of the publication of the report, there were 225 CIU exonerations. We look at where these 225 exonerations came from, which prosecutorial offices have CIUs in name only, and the accessibility of the programs. Read more.

Conviction Integrity Units - 3 February 2016
A look at the rapid rise in Conviction Integrity Units and their wide range in performance. The report concludes: “What we can say is this: In a few counties, CIUs have become important, active on-going operations. For several CIUs, it’s too early to say. And for others, we found no evidence that they have done anything much at all.” Read more.

About the Registry

The National Registry of Exonerations is a project of the Newkirk Center for Science & Society at University of California Irvine, the University of Michigan Law School and Michigan State University College of Law. It was founded in 2012 in conjunction with the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law. The Registry provides detailed information about every known exoneration in the United States since 1989—cases in which a person was wrongly convicted of a crime and later cleared of all the charges based on new evidence of innocence. The Registry also maintains a more limited database of known exonerations prior to 1989.

Contact Us

We welcome new information from any source about exonerations already on our list and about cases not in the Registry that might be exonerations.

A Project of the University of California Irvine Newkirk Center for Science & Society, University of Michigan Law School & Michigan State University College of Law

2,679 exonerations since 1989More than 24,150 Years Lost

Conviction Integrity Units

Guide to the Registry's List of CIUs

A. OPERATIONAL CIUs with RECORDED Exonerations

County

​ST

​Address

​Founding Date

Exonerations

1. Los Angeles

​CA

Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office

211 West Temple Street

Suite 1200

Los Angeles, CA 90012

​2015

2. Merced

​CA

Merced County District Attorney's Office

550 W. Main Street

Merced, CA 95340

​2017

​Link

​3. Riverside

CA

​

Riverside County District Attorney’s Office

Conviction Review Committee

3960 Orange Street

Riverside, CA 92501

​2015

​4. Sacramento

​CA

​Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office

Justice, Training and Integrity Unit

901 G Street

Sacramento, CA 95814

​2013

​Link

​5. San Diego

​CA

​San Diego County District Attorney’s Office

PO Box 121011

San Diego, CA 92112-1011

​2016

​Link

​6. Santa Clara

​CA

County of Santa Clara - Office of the District Attorney

70 West Hedding Street

San Jose, CA 95110

​2002

​Link

7. Ventura

​CA

Ventura County Government Center

Hall of Justice

800 S. Victoria Avenue, Suite 314

Ventura, CA 93009

​2012

​8. 4th Circuit

Duval, Clay & Nassau Cos.

​FL

​State Attorney’s Office

Conviction Integrity Review

311 W. Monroe St.

Jacksonville, FL 32202

​2018

​9. Cook

IL

Conviction Integrity Unit

Cook County State's Attorney

50 W. Washington Street

Suite 2700

Chicago, IL 60602

​2012

​10. Lake

​IL

Prosecution Protocol & Conviction Review Unit

A Project of the University of California Irvine Newkirk Center for Science & Society,
University of Michigan Law School & Michigan State University College of Law

2,679 exonerations since 1989
More than 24,150 Years Lost

ST

Address

Founding Date

CA

2015

CA

2017

Link

3. Riverside

2015

4. Sacramento

CA

Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office

2013

Link

5. San Diego

CA

San Diego County District Attorney’s Office

2016

Link

6. Santa Clara

CA

2002

Link

CA

2012

8. 4th Circuit

FL

State Attorney’s Office

2018

9. Cook

2012

10. Lake

IL

2013

11. Baltimore City

MD

2012

Link

12. Middlesex

MA

2013

Link

13. Suffolk

MA

Suffolk County District Attorney

2012

Link

14. Wayne

MI

NV