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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Rainaldi

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/25/06

HB

SHORT TITLE 11

th

Judicial District Pre-trial Services

SB 214

ANALYST McSherry

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$192.1

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 214 appropriates $192,100 from the general fund to the 11

th

Judicial District Court

for the purpose of providing salary and benefits to three employees for a pre-trial services pro-

gram.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $192,100 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2007 shall revert

to the general fund.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The pre-trial program currently exists at the 11

th

District in San Juan County and is funded with

County support. The District contends that the County will likely no longer fund the program.

According the 11

th

District the pre-trial services program assists the processing of cases by

screening of adult felony arrestees for release suitability, provide the court with written report

with release recommendations and other options, and supervise defendants who the court consid-

ers to be at a high risk of failure.

Senate Bill 214 – Page

2

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

The desired improvement in performance that the pre-trial services is designed to provide is to

maximize defendant release rates at the earliest possible time after arrest while minimizing fail-

ure to appear and danger to the community.

A comparison of districts that do not use a pre-trial services rate of release versus the 11

th

‘s rate

of release would be a valuable comparison of the programs performance. This information has

not been provided.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

According to the District, all district judges and some magistrate judges rely heavily on the in-

formation provided pertaining to defendants appearing before them.

ALTERNATIVES

It is possible that the county or other entity would continue to fund the program.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

The pre-trial services program at the 11

th

Judicial District Court may cease to exist.

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

1.

How many other districts have a pre-trial services program. Are they funded by the coun-

ties.

2.

Would the 11

th

District benefit more from retaining a pre-trial services program more

than another district would from gaining a program.

3.

How was the need for a pre-trial services program determined when the program was ini-

tiated.

4.

What is the current cost to the county to run the pre-trial services program. What savings

has the county realized since the implementation of the program.

5.

Do the county savings exceed the county costs for increased incarceration due to a de-

creased rate of release.

6.

What is the 11

th

Judicial District’s rate of release as compared to other districts without a

pre-trial services division.

EM/yr