---
category: PROMIS Scandal
created: 2024-04-25
summary: James M. Etheridge served as assistant director for computer systems in the
  Office of Crime Analysis of the District of Columbia during the original 1969 PROMIS
  design effort, became acting director of that office in 1970, and served as Deputy
  Director of the National Center for Prosecution Management from 1974.
tags:
- Person
- PROMIS
- INSLAW
updated: 2026-05-01
---

James M. Etheridge served as assistant director for computer systems in the [Office of Crime Analysis of the District of Columbia](/organizations/office-of-crime-analysis-of-the-district-of-columbia/) during the 1969 effort that produced the [Prosecutor's Management Information System (PROMIS)](/programs/promis/). The team was co-directed by [Joan E. Jacoby](/people/joan-e-jacoby/) and [Charles R. Work](/people/charles-r-work/), with [Bill Hamilton](/people/bill-hamilton/) as project manager at [Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co](/organizations/peat-marwick-mitchell-co/). Etheridge wrote a 1969 paper, "Design and Development of a Criminal Justice Information and Analysis System in Washington, D.C.," published in the Urban and Regional Information Systems Proceedings, documenting the project.[^2]

In 1970, Etheridge served as acting director of the Office of Crime Analysis. By 1974, he was Deputy Director of the [National Center for Prosecution Management](/organizations/national-center-for-prosecution-management/), working alongside Executive Director [Joan E. Jacoby](/people/joan-e-jacoby/) to expand PROMIS adoption and statistical tools in prosecutor's offices nationwide.[^1]

[^1]: U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary. *The INSLAW Affair: Investigative Report.* House Report 102-857, 102nd Congress, 2nd Session, September 10, 1992.
[^2]: Sessions, Vivian S. *Directory of Data Bases in the Social and Behavioral Sciences.* Science Associates International, 1974.