NCSL Pretrial Quarterly Newsletter

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FROM THE STATES

• The New Mexico Legislature is sending a constitutional amendment to the voters this November that would grant courts new authority to deny pretrial release for dangerous defendants in felony cases.
• Nevada Assemblyman Elliot Anderson (D) served on the Supreme Court of Nevada Judicial Counsel’s committee to study evidence-based pretrial release. The committee’s final report and the Nevada Pretrial Risk Assessment Instrument were recently published.
• New Jersey Governor Chris Christie issued an executive order directing the attorney general to study the costs, savings, and administrative challenges associated with the state’s new pretrial release reforms.

THE CACHE

• University of Texas Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs: “Risk, Not Resources: Improving the Pretrial Release Process in Texas.”
• The Crime and Justice Institute: “Analyzing Bond Supervision Data: The Effects of Pretrial Detention on Self-Reported Outcomes.”
• Boston University Law Review: “Costs of Pretrial Detention.”
• The Abell Foundation: “Finishing the Job: Modernizing Maryland’s Bail System.”
• Civic Consulting Alliance: “How Cook County is reducing its jail population through innovation and reform.”
• John Jay College of Criminal Justice Roundtable Reports on Pretrial Practice: (1) “Rethinking the Front End of the Criminal Justice System” and (2) “Building a National Research Agenda for the Front End of the Criminal Justice System.” 

IN THE NEWS

• California Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D) led a discussion about the need to change California’s system of pretrial release.
• Cass County started a pretrial release program with grant funding from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. Local officials say that the program is saving money and will ultimately keep more people from reoffending. Find out more. 
• Essays from a police chief, a district attorney, a public defender, a probation officer, and the president of the National Association of Counties on pretrial reform and diverting people from the “front door” of the criminal justice system.
• Local officials say that their pretrial release pilot project in Yellowstone County, Mont., has already saved 23,574 jail days in the first year.
• An in-depth look at how Washington, D.C., does pretrial release differently.
• Reality TV star Beth Chapman is the new president of Professional Bail Agents of the United States and will be in Mississippi this month for the group’s annual conference.
• A small group from Yale University just launched the Connecticut Bail Fund. The group posts bail for defendants who would otherwise be jailed, and pairs each defendant with a “community navigator.” 

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This newsletter is prepared under a partnership project of NCSL’s Criminal Justice Program and the Public Welfare Foundation. Links to external websites and reports are for information purposes only and do not indicate NCSL’s endorsement of the content.