The mission of the Pretrial Services Unit (PSU) is to assist the 4th District Court figure out if someone charged with a crime can be safely released into the community before criminal cases are resolved.

The PSU then supervises those criminal defendants with two primary goals: to protect community safety and ensure that people charged with crimes attend all court hearings.

PSU supervision allows some people charged with crimes an opportunity to remain employed, in school, continue health services (drug/alcohol/mental health treatment), and remain in their home while being monitored in the community.

This also helps ensure that local jail beds are available to hold the most dangerous offenders.

The way we do that is to assist the 4th District Court by providing an evidence-based risk assessment after somebody is arrested but before they get arraigned in their criminal case.

The assessment objectively predicts risk to the community if someone is released from jail while their criminal case is being resolved.

After being arrested, defendants may be approached by a pretrial officer and asked some basic questions which will assist the court in the release decision.

CASE MANAGEMENT

As a condition of this program, and the 4th District Court Pretrial Release Order, defendants will:
• Commit no new crimes.
• Periodically report to the PSU as determined by the risk assessment.
• Mandatory reporting of any changes in address, employment, phone, emergency contacts, etc.
• No possession or consumption of illegal drugs.
• Maintain all court appearances
• No possession or consumption of alcohol may also be ordered by the Court.

Violations of such conditions may result in revocation of bond and return to custody.

The PSU supervises defendants using several effective methods which are low-cost alternatives to jail.  They include:

• Random Urinalysis Drug and Alcohol Screenings
• Office Appointments
• Phone Contacts
• Electronic monitoring to include:
  • Global Positioning Satellite Monitoring (GPS)
  • Transdermal Alcohol Monitoring
  • Remote Breath Alcohol Testing

Case Managers provide supervision to defendants by monitoring defendants’ release conditions to assure court attendance and compliance with all conditions of the court order.  They also connect defendants with resources in the community that will assist them in maintaining stability (treatment referrals and employment assistance resources).

The PSU supervision ends after the defendant’s criminal case is resolved.