STUDY OF MAINES PRETRIAL CASE PROCESSING Corrections Alternatives

STUDY OF MAINE’S PRETRIAL CASE PROCESSING Corrections Alternatives Advisory Committee Presented by: Marie Van. Nostrand, Ph. D. May 25, 2006

Corrections Alternatives Advisory Committee The Corrections Alternatives Advisory Committee was created by the Maine Legislature in Spring 2005 to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the State’s corrections system and to better manage costs

Corrections Alternatives Advisory Committee Interim Report to the Maine Legislature – CAAC made several recommendations, one of which was to “reduce the average length of pretrial defendant’s stay within jail. ” Based on a key finding: Pretrial defendant’s average length of stay along with probation revocations are driving costs and the use of jail bed space

Pretrial Study CAAC commissioned a study of pretrial case processing in Maine Interest in study precipitated by need to better understand: • Composition of pretrial jail population • Significant average duration of pretrial stays in jail (est. by DOC at 65 days) • Availability of pretrial services

Pretrial Study Goals of the Study are to identify: – strategies to appropriately manage defendant risk and needs – opportunities for improvement in system efficiency at the state & local levels – opportunities for improvement in system effectiveness at the state & local levels – strategies to enhance state and county coordination

Study Introduction • Comprehensive study of all 16 Counties examining the following: – the way local criminal justice systems currently process cases pending trial – how the risk & needs of pretrial defendants are determined – how bail decisions are made – the resources available to manage pretrial risk and needs • Complete data analysis of the populations for five County jails: – – – Aroostook Cumberland Kennebec Penobscot York

Study Timeline • The project began on April 3, 2006 and is scheduled for completion on or about September 15, 2006

Project Staff • • • CAAC Pretrial Study Project Teams Cheryl Gallant, Onsite Project Manager Luminosity Consultants – – • Marie Van. Nostrand, Ph. D. Patrick Jablonski, Ph. D. Gena Keebler Brian Kays Partnership with the National Institute of Corrections (NIC)

Pretrial Study Project Teams CAAC Pretrial Study Project Team Mary Ashton, NIC Harold Doughty, MDOC Hartwell Dowling, Judiciary Neale Duffett, Defense Attorney Evert Fowle, District Attorney Cheryl Gallant, Cheryl A. Gallant, Inc Denise Lord, MDOC Robert Mullen, Maine District Court Judge Pat Murtagh, Volunteers of America Glenn Ross, Penobscot County Sheriff Mark Rubin, Muskie School of Public Service Elizabeth Simoni, Maine Pretrial Services Michael Vitiello, York County Jail Administrator Marie Van. Nostrand, Luminosity, Inc

Pretrial Study Project Teams 5 County Analysis Project Team James Foss, Aroostook County David Lambert, York County Angela Berube, Cumberland County Michael Vitiello, York County John Joy, Cumberland County Hartwell Dowling, Judiciary Larry La. Pointe, Cumberland County Evert Fowle, District Attorney Glenn Ross, Penobscot County Mark Rubin, Muskie School Linda Golden, Penobscot County Elizabeth Simoni, Maine Pretrial Serv. Keith Hotaling, Penobscot County Mary Ashton, NIC Everett Flannery, Kennebec County Cheryl Gallant, Cheryl A. Gallant, Inc Randall Liberty, Kennebec County Marie Van. Nostrand, Luminosity, Inc Richard Wurpel, Kennebec County Patrick Jablonski, Luminosity, Inc

Implementation Strategy Stakeholders Important to actively engage stakeholders: • • Letters outlining study Informational e-mails News releases Invitation to attend CAAC meetings Distribution of project team materials Presentation at stakeholder group forums Solicit input regarding study findings and recommendations made to CAAC Publicize study findings (e. g. , annual association meetings)

Implementation Strategy Case Processing Research each County criminal justice system: • • • county population profile crime and arrest rates law enforcement agencies district and superior court structure, locations, and case filings jail location, capacity, daily population pretrial, probation, and specialty courts & programs

Implementation Strategy Case Processing Conduct onsite visits for each County to observe system operations including: • • Jail booking and intake Initial appearance in Court Arraignments Bail hearings

Implementation Strategy Case Processing Conduct interviews with key critical stakeholders including: • law enforcement • sheriff’s department • jail booking/intake and classification staff • bail commissioners • district attorney’s office • lawyer of the day • district court judge & clerk • superior court justice & clerk • financial screeners • Victim witness advocate • pretrial services • specialty courts – adult drug treatment, domestic violence, divert offenders to treatment, co-occurring disorder • probation

Implementation Strategy 5 -County Data Analysis Complete data analysis of the populations for five County jails: – – – Aroostook Cumberland Kennebec Penobscot York

Implementation Strategy 5 -County Data Analysis Complete data analysis of the populations for five County jails – develop pretrial population profiles – develop locally sentenced population profiles – identify pretrial risks and needs – determine the pretrial average length of stay – determine the portion of the population that have probation violations

Project Status • 8 weeks into a 24 week study • 7 of 16 Counties have been examined • Beginning process of collecting and analyzing jail population data • Preliminary identification of significant areas of improvement in efficiency and effectiveness • Next briefing scheduled for July

Study Activities • On-site visits completed as planned in the following Counties: – Cumberland – Androscoggin – Sagadahoc – Lincoln – York – Oxford – Currently on-site in Kennebec

Study Activities Conducted interviews with over 100 key critical stakeholders • law enforcement • sheriff’s department • jail booking/intake and classification staff • bail commissioners • district attorney’s office • lawyer of the day • district court judge & clerk • superior court justice & clerk • financial screeners • Victim witness advocate • pretrial services • specialty courts – adult drug treatment, domestic violence, divert offenders to treatment, co-occurring disorder • probation

Study Activities Toured the Two Bridges Regional Jail Have you ever seen someone so happy to be at a jail construction site?

Study Activities Began working with the 5 Counties to examine the availability of desired data to complete the data analysis

Study Activities Have NOT seen a moose!

Study Challenges • Data availability is limited in a number of areas, including two critical areas – Criminal History • History of FTA • History of Violence • General adult history – Bail Information • Not automated

Early Observations • Maine’s criminal justice system has a number of particularly efficient, effective, and impressive characteristics – Lawyer of the day – Video arraignment – Regional jail – Specialty courts – Regional CJ automated systems – Warrant repositories – Justices/Judges ability to ‘sit’ for each other

Early Observations • Accessibility of Criminal Histories are rarely or selectively comprehensive at pretrial stage – Local vs. SBI & III/NCIC • Rarely available to Bail Commissioners • Sometimes available to ADA for initial appearance (practices vary greatly from County to County) • Judge and LOD rely on ADA for CH • Pretrial services does not have access to CH

Early Observations • Initial assessment of pretrial risk – Most cases completed by Bail Commissioner – ID rarely confirmed through fingerprints – Limited criminal history available (local) – Self-reported limited information: community ties, residence, employment – Rarely substance use, mental or physical health information – Information relayed by phone by corrections or police officer

Early Observations • Initial assessment of pretrial risk by Bail Commissioners – Rarely any legal background – 8 hours of training during first year of appointment – Provided limited information to set bail – Fee for service – No formal identification – Excessive conditions of bail

Early Observations • Availability of Pretrial Services – Four counties have no pretrial services – All counties visited report pretrial services to be severely understaffed and under funded – Judges using Police Departments to provide pretrial supervision due to under funded services – Under funded pretrial services results in – • Fewer releases pretrial • Longer detention pretrial

Emerging Issues • Potential Sources of Jail Crowding – – – Bail Commissioner practices Insufficient or no pretrial services Delay in Ct. appointed attorneys Mandatory fines (indigent) Probation violations (authority, practices, time to disposition) – Court date timeframe – Lack of alternative misdemeanor sentences (jail in lieu of alternative and misuse of pretrial services)