NCJ Number
82814
Date Published
1980
Length
23 pages
Annotation
Preliminary findings are presented from a national evaluation that assessed the current state of pretrial release practices and their outcomes.
Abstract
The study considered four broad topics: (1) the frequency and nature of pretrial release, (2) failure to appear for court, (3) pretrial criminality, and (4) impact of pretrial release programs. The analyses upon which this report is based were an examination of release practices and outcomes in eight jurisdictions located throughout the country and an analysis of the impact that pretrial release programs have on release practices, failure to appear, and pretrial rearrest rates of released defendants. The latter analysis involved four cities and used an experimental design where defendants were randomly assigned to a pretrial release program and the other group was not. In the eight-site analysis, 85 percent of the 3,500 defendants in the sample secured release prior to trial. About 3 percent of those released prior to trial spent at least 30 days in jail. About 70 percent of those released did not have to put up bail. No differences in failure to appear or pretrial rearrest rates were found between those released on financial and nonfinancial conditions. The failure to apear rate was 13 percent, and pretrial rearrest rates averaged 16 percent. About 30 percent of the rearrested defendants were rearrested more than once. Pretrial release programs were found to affect release decisions but not the postrelease behavior of defendants. This suggests that greater scrutiny should be given to programs' postrelease activities to determine whether they are having sufficient impact to warrant their costs. Implications of the findings are discussed, and some unresolved issues are considered. Tabular data are provided.