DATE: January 16, 2008
CONTACT: Kimberly Maroe, Public Information Manager
PHONE: 954-357-8053
Broward County Commissioners voted to expand the Broward Sheriff's Office (BSO) Pretrial Release Program in order to reduce the number of inmates held in the county jail on minor, non-felony crimes and low bonds. Criminals who have been convicted or sentenced are not eligible for the program.
"We either spend $60 million to build a new jail, or expand this program. This has the support of the Public Safety Coordinating Council, the Judiciary, and the Broward Sheriff's Office," said Commissioner Ken Keechl, the Commission's liaison to the Public Safety Coordinating Council. "A lot of hard work has gone in to this and it's the right thing to do to keep our jail population under control."
The Broward Sheriff's Office recommended the expansion in order to delay the construction of a new 1,000-bed jail for at least two years. The annual operating cost of a new jail is
$30 million.
Nationally, pretrial release programs provide judges with an alternative to pretrial detention or release on own recognizance. Defendants who can afford a cash or surety bond are released once they post the bond. BSO's Pretrial Services Program provides judges with the ability to order non-monetary pretrial release for defendants as an alternative to jail.
Pretrial Services goals are to protect the public's safety, provide fair and equal access to pretrial release, ensure defendants appear for court, and reduce jail crowding. Pretrial programs rely on evidence based assessment tools and experience to evaluate and rate the likelihood that a defendant can be released from jail and appear as scheduled for court.
Ultimately, judges make the decision to detain or release a defendant to the Pretrial Services program. Their decisions are guided by State Statutes and Judicial Orders.
A recent study by the National Institute of Corrections noted that 975 inmates are detained on bonds of $5,000 or less including 381 with bonds under $1,000.
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