Delivery System Analysis of Santa Clara County (CA)

• NCJ Number: 75181
• Author(s): K Peterson
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 95 pages
• Grant Number(s): 77-NI-99-0050
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice; US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Corporate Author: Lazar Institute
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Working Paper number 7

Annotation

The pretrial release delivery system of Santa Clara County. Calif. is analyzed.

Abstract

The Santa Clara County pretrial release program has pretrial release specialists stationed at each of the three main booking facilities 24-hours-a-day. The specialists interview the defendants immediately after booking and then verify the information. A point system which does not consider the nature of the charge is used. The porgram has the authority to release misdemeanor defendants who have the required number of points. Felony cases are immediately referred to a judicial officer, along with a program recommendation. The types of release available include released under own recognizance (O.R.), supervised O.R., conditional release, and surety bond. Defendants granted an O.R. release are reminded of their initial court date by mail about 3 days before the appearance. Those not granted O.R. and who do not post bail may be again referred to the program for reinvestigation and consideration for supervised release. At the conclusion of the pretrial period, the program prepares a report on the defendant concerning compliance with any release conditions. about 66 percent of all persons arrested are eligible for program services. Of the 18,165 persons eligible in 1977, 14,293 were interviewed. About 55 percent of those interviewed have been granted O.R. between 2.1 and 3.8 percent of the O.R. clients have failed to appear and did not subsequently return to court for the 1971-78 period. Misdemeanor defendants do not tend to skip more or less than felony defendants. Those who simply missed a scheduled court appearance ranged from 6.4 to 7.1 percent of the O.R. defendants. The sparse information on rearrest rates suggests that in 1971 about 5.6 percent of all O.R. male defendants were rearrested pending trial for another offense. The program is well accepted by local criminal justice officials. The bail schedule and affidavit and pretrial release forms are appended, and tabular and graphic data are provided. (Author abstract modified)