Topic: Courts

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Initially, the county struggled to achieve a meaningful decrease in the jail population. The jail facility was continuously over capacity and was burdened by a large state inmate population. Relentless and rapid local population growth as well as limited resources for pre-arrest support, intervention and diversion were also significant factors.

But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the strategies that were in place as a result of the Safety and Justice Challenge set the county up to respond quickly and meaningfully to the crisis. COVID-19 posed a serious health risk to the community, people being held in the jail, and staff. To reduce unnecessary exposure and transmission in our jail, the county was able to quickly and dramatically reduce the population to allow for proper distancing and quarantine space. Fortunately, the county had strong, collaborative relationships in place and was able to work with partner law enforcement agencies, public defenders, prosecutors, and the Department of Correction to reduce the jail population swiftly while maintaining community safety and protecting public health. The county continues to review its efforts to ensure that they are having the impact desired.

Beyond the jail reduction, the county also improved the Pretrial unit, by expanding the staffing and adopting the new pretrial assessment tool. The Pretrial program helped many avoid a return to jail after being released safely into the community.

For example, one man was charged with a Felony DUI when he was working as a full-time chef. Being released before his trial allowed him to keep working. During his sentencing hearing, the judge told him because he did well on Pretrial, he would not be serving time in prison. The Defendant now owns his own restaurant and food truck, and just recently opened a second location.

Remaining Challenges

Ada County is focused on addressing its remaining challenges in its local justice system.

Rapid local population growth — and corresponding jail population growth that follows — continues to be a challenge. While the county was able to safely reduce the jail population during the pandemic, the difficulties the jail faced pre-pandemic have not gone away. With all jury trials starting up again after being delayed, the county expects there to be some backup with people who have been in the jail long-term, until the courts can catch up. The COVID-19 pandemic did show what was possible with buy-in from law enforcement, prosecutors, and the District Court.

Another challenge will be continuing the system-wide commitment to the reduction of the jail population without the threat of a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic. The county is developing strategies and collecting data to show partners how crime rates have not gone up as the jail population has decreased, so the work can be sustained after the pandemic.

Overall, the county has learned that meaningful and lasting change is going to be a marathon. Ada County will continue to work towards achieving a more equitable, efficient, and safe system.

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Due to improvements made to pretrial services, the county experienced a massive 593% growth in the number of individuals placed on pretrial supervision. Before having access to supervision and the appropriate interventions, nearly 70 percent of offenders placed in detention and charged with a low-level, nonviolent felony reoffended and cycled back through jail.

This drop in recidivism was due to the risk assessment tool successfully implemented by the Harris County Courts, as well as the new Responsive Interventions for Change (RIC) docket. Since October 2016, over 21,000 cases have been filed in the docket. Specifically, between October 2016 and early 2021, the county diverted 6,125 (85%) people to supervision and treatment, with only 15% of cases ending in conviction and incarceration. The RIC Docket completely reversed sentencing disposition from four years earlier when 79% of defendants charged with a state jail felony chose incarceration over diversion to supervision and treatment.

Finally, Harris County has taken multiple steps in working toward racial equity in its justice system. In addition to re-instituting the Racial and Ethnic Equity Standing Committee and establishing a micro-grant program to support community-based organizations, a new Racial Equity Index was built, which, upon completion, will be a dashboard open to the community and the public.

Remaining Challenges

Harris County is focused on addressing its remaining challenges in its local justice system.

The county has faced several crises over the past few years with major impacts on the criminal justice system. Its biggest challenge remains trying to sustain a jail population reduction while dealing with the criminal case backlog created when courthouses were closed during Hurricane Harvey, followed by the limited capacity for dockets due to Covid-19. The courts are working to address the backlog, with three emergency response dockets for pre-trial hearings, three emergency response dockets for jury trials that focus on the oldest and most serious cases, and continue to operate jury assembly operations and voir dire at NRG Arena that follow CDC and public health guidelines. Justice Administration Department and the Office of Management and Budget Department are working with stakeholders to identify additional strategies and resources needed to address the backlog.

People of color also continue to be over-represented in the justice system. To expand on the work underway, the county is in the process of searching for new community engagement opportunities and will be moving forward with a comprehensive study of racial and ethnic disparities in the justice system.

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Key to the success of the county’s Safety and Justice Challenge work to date has been the creation of the Community Engagement Workgroup (CEW). Community interest in advancing change in the justice system has been high and progress has been made to increase public involvement in this work. The county has increased the representation of community members across workgroups and on councils, intentionally engaging people impacted by the justice system. As of May 2021, the CEW had hosted nine engagement events reaching over 500 participants. As a result of community engagement efforts, the information from these conversations was shared with other workgroups in the justice system and informed the inclusion of the county’s community safety and violence prevention strategy.

To better embed racial equity in efforts to transform the justice system, the Racial Equity Workgroup (REW) has held over 15 educational and training opportunities, both internally and with broader justice system stakeholders and partners. The REW has analyzed disparities across justice system decision points, developed strategies to incorporate a focus on equity, and laid the foundation for the County’s proclamation of Racism as a Public Safety Emergency. The REW developed a Racial Equity Tool to identify policies and practices contributing to inequities, and is designing a local equity curriculum for justice system partners.

Collaboration between the county’s behavioral health and criminal justice partners has focused on screening people in jail for diversion to treatment and supporting planning for re-entry into the community. More specifically, the county was able to enhance its Familiar Faces program for individuals with complex needs to reduce arrests and increase collaboration across service providers. Between January 2020 and January 2021, the Familiar Faces program coordinated care of 15 individuals and clients saw a 45% reduction in arrests and reported increased collaboration across service providers. From July 2020 to March 2021, more than 100 clients were released from jail to treatment through the diversion program for substance use.

With the addition of a re-entry case manager in October 2020, 28 individuals were able to receive additional case management support upon release. Of these clients, 86% engaged in more community-based mental health treatment; 75% were able to establish and maintain stable housing; 75% reported abstinence from and/or a decrease in substance use; and 93% did not experience rearrest within the reporting period.

Finally, thanks to the support of the Safety and Justice Challenge network, strong collaboration in the criminal justice system to-date, and community partners working toward the goal of safely reducing the jail population, the county was able to respond quickly during the COVID-19 pandemic and simultaneously protect public health and public safety.

Remaining Challenges

Buncombe County is focused on addressing its remaining challenges in its local justice system.

While the county has seen progress with safely decreasing its jail population, the proportion of Black people in jail reached its highest levels in July 2020, which was also the point where the jail population was at its lowest level. Moving forward, the county is focusing on root causes of inequities, including investing in and growing the new community safety and violence prevention initiative.

In addition, the limitations of the state-based court reminder system have been a consistent challenge as the county has worked to improve access to reliable court reminders and reduce failures to appear in court. There has also been confusion around who is expected to appear in court during the pandemic. To address this, the county is working to try to coordinate messaging across court partners to communicate with the public about expectations related to appearing in court during the pandemic.

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Specifically, Cook County has been able to reduce the local jail population without putting public safety at risk. In fact, rigorous analysis completed by the Office of the Chief Judge, the JFA Institute, and Loyola University Chicago all demonstrate that eliminating cash bail in the justice system has been both safe and effective in Cook County.

In the first six months after bond reform was implemented in Cook County, more than 3,500 more people received an I-Bond—meaning that they were released without bail—who would not have received one before. Because of I-Bonds and lower D-Bond amounts, defendants saved a total $31.4 million that could instead go toward rent, food, and other essentials to support themselves and their families. In addition, 500 more people were safely released back into the community while awaiting trial.

Community voice was critical to these results. In 2020-2021, the county engaged 264 community residents who participated in 31 small group dialogues, an increase from the 144 community residents who participated in 24 small group dialogues in 2019.

Remaining Challenges

While Cook County has made significant progress in reducing its jail population, the county aims to reduce it even further, and continue addressing the barriers that keep people in jail before their trials begin.

In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a set of completely new challenges for the Cook County justice system, but stakeholders remain firmly committed to driving forward toward the goals of the Safety and Justice Challenge. Through continued collaboration and data-driven decision making, stakeholders regularly review strategies to course-correct and adapt, even during the most challenging of circumstances.

Finally, Governor J.B Pritzker signed the SAFE-T act on February 2, 2021 which has significant implications for Illinois and Cook County. The abolishment of cash bail, law enforcement reforms, and other pretrial reforms are covered in the legislation and county stakeholders will have to collaboratively prepare for the impact of the significant changes.

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The county has learned that communication and collaboration are key to any reform strategy. System actors, including judges, law enforcement, public defenders, community members, and many others, have come together to work on making the local justice system fairer and more equitable.

As a result of the Community Engagement Workgroup’s work, a series of community listening conversations in late 2020 created a space for community members to share valued input on proposed criminal justice reform strategies. Within the system, court and law enforcement are participating in procedural justice trainings to learn ways to improve relationships with the public through increased transparency and understanding of legal processes. Over 600 employees have been trained so far.

From 2016 – 2020, the Population Review Team has reviewed and recommended release in 669 cases, and as a result, saved people an overall 4,325 days spent in jail.

The Toledo Municipal Court diversion program was able to effectively support people who often cycle in and out of the jail with alternatives to incarceration. Since 2018, 2,044 people have been referred to the program and 1,053 of them have completed the program. The program is being evaluated by the Harvard Access to Justice Lab.

Remaining Challenges

Lucas County is focused on addressing its remaining challenges in its local justice system.

Lucas County has more work to do in further reducing its jail population and racial and ethnic disparities in the justice system. An analysis of racial and ethnic disparities will be completed to inform further strategies to reduce racial and ethnic disparities. Additionally, Lucas County is focusing on expanding its continuum of services for individuals with behavioral health needs involved in the criminal justice system.

In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on every aspect of the county’s local justice system and continues to uniquely affect those incarcerated in local jails. The foundation of collaborative, data-driven strategies, including the necessary structures and collaboration from local stakeholders that are in place to support these strategies, has set the county up well to respond to the pandemic swiftly and effectively.