Deschutes County’s Clean Slate Program Shows Value of Front-End Diversion

By: John Hummel

Community Engagement Policing Pretrial Services September 28, 2021

The war on drugs has failed. More than 60 percent of people who are prosecuted for drug offenses reoffend. In Deschutes County, Oregon, our Clean Slate program provides a model for how communities can chart a better path.

Fifty-three percent of program participants have successfully completed the Clean Slate program, which requires not incurring a new arrest within one year. When compared to individuals that were eligible to enroll in the program but did not participate, only 38 percent were not cited for a new crime within 12 months. This impact is reflected again in that Deschutes County’s two-year recidivism rate hovers around 76 percent, but the two-year rate for Clean Slate participants is only 42 percent. Due to these successes, over 400 court appearances have been avoided and 253 people have been connected to much-needed medical care since the program’s inception in November 2017.

Front-end diversion efforts like Clean Slate—which occur before a court date, when a person has initial contact with law enforcement—can prevent overuse of jail and the negative consequences an arrest can have on a person’s life. We were able to develop the Clean Slate program and run the proof-of-concept pilot thanks to funding from the Safety and Justice Challenge Innovation Fund.

How the Program Works

When an officer interacts with a person on the street suspected of drug possession, rather than arrested them, they issue a citation to appear in court, and they give them a card with information about the Clean Slate program. Our office then calls that person and invites them to a Clean Slate orientation meeting which they can attend before their court date. At that meeting, the District Attorney or one of their deputies is there to welcome the person. After the welcome, the person has a confidential meeting with the public defenders, who also participate in the orientation process. After meeting with the District Attorney and the public defender, the individual meets with a substance use disorder professional who conducts an assessment. The person is then scheduled for an appointment with a primary care provider provider at one of the program’s participating federally qualified health centers. Once the patient shows up at that appointment, they are in the program and out of the criminal justice system.

Treating Substance Abuse Disorder in the Medical System, Not the Criminal Justice System

We have tried treating substance abuse disorder in the criminal justice system for the past 100 years, and we have failed miserably. It simply does not work. When someone is charged with possessing drugs, it is our belief that they either use recreationally or they are living with a substance use disorder and need the help of a medical professional.

The healthcare environment is very different from the criminal justice environment. Patients are free to talk openly and can communicate about what is going on with their lives. There are often underlying issues contributing to their substance abuse disorder. Sometimes it is a history of trauma or a mental health condition. There are also socioeconomic stressors that often play a role. Most people want to do better; they just do not know how to take the first step.

The leadership and providers at Mosaic Medical and La Pine Community Health Center were invaluable to this effort and worked intensely with us to develop the nuts and bolts of the program. They provide compassionate and competent care to our participants everyday.

Getting Law Enforcement on Board

Law enforcement officers have also been important partners. Many have embraced the program and encourage people suspected of possessing drugs to attend a Clean Slate orientation meeting.

Many officers on the street tell us they have come to have a better understanding of the people they interact with on a regular basis. They now realize that the people they are interacting with often have mental health issues, physical conditions, and trauma, which go together with drug addictions.

Handing a person a Clean Slate card and referring them to programs and resources can build a good working relationship between officers and the people they are citing. It shows the officer is not just there to throw a person into a jail cell but instead wants to see them succeed.

Humanizing People with Substance Abuse Disorder

People with a substance abuse disorder do not want or choose to have it. We are not giving them a break; we are giving them a chance to live the life they want to live.

By removing the criminal framework and demonstrating that there are healthcare providers here to help, we make it easier for people to stay employed and housed. Those are important ways for people to stay productive and engaged in society.

Our participants tell us they did not know programs like Clean Slate existed and that they did not think they had the resources to go through such a program. They feel like it is their opportunity to succeed and change their life. They also tell us that the medical staff they work with are helpful and kind, and that there is a lack of judgment which also helps them succeed.

One participant told us: “This program saved my life: I would have been dead by now. I reconnected with my family, have not been arrested, gained weight, got healthier, have fewer sick days at work. It is a miracle, and my whole life has changed.”

Lessons Learned

Police officers told us that the personal commitment of the prosecutor’s office to encourage them to refer to Clean Slate was important in securing their support. We also learned the importance of securing stakeholder support during the process of designing the program. And of course, we relied on data collection to validate the program’s success.

Jail detention has tremendous costs for the people in jail, their families, and their community. This program has reduced those costs and is a worthwhile investment in people’s futures.

We encourage other Safety and Justice Challenge jurisdictions to draw on the lessons from the Clean Slate Program to lower the use of jails and help people living with substance abuse disorder improve their lives.

The Clean Slate Program is also the subject of a case study by the Urban Institute which is available here. And you can watch a video about the program featuring participants and law enforcement, here.

Pima County, AZ

Change in Jail Population 6%

Action Areas Community Engagement Diversion Interagency Collaboration Pretrial Services Racial Disparities

Last Updated

Background

In 2014, the Pima County Adult Detention Center was nearing capacity. The county grappled with the decision to either build a new and bigger jail or find ways to safely reduce the jail population. With local jail expenditures amounting to roughly $66 million a year, this crisis had a direct impact on taxpayers.

Snapshots of Pima County’s jail population in 2011-2014 showed that more than 80% of people in the jail were typically being held while awaiting trial. The main drivers of the pretrial jail population, based on 2014 data, include warrants for failures to appear in court (93% of which related to underlying misdemeanor charges), misdemeanor charges like shoplifting and DUIs, and lower-level felony charges, such as possession/use of a dangerous or narcotic drug, possession of drug paraphernalia and aggravated criminal damage.

The 2014 data also showed that people of color were over-incarcerated in the county jail. Specifically, 9.6% of Black people were being held pretrial, compared with 3.3% of the county’s total population. In addition, 40.7% of Hispanic people were being held pretrial, compared with 35% of the county’s total population.

An impact was also felt by the county’s tribal communities. Native Americans made up only 2.4% of the county’s total population, but they represented 6.75% of the pretrial population, and 8% of those held in jail on failure to appear charges.

Finally, in 2014, mental illness and substance use affected an estimated 60% of the jail population in Pima County.

Strategies

Since joining the Safety and Justice Challenge, Pima County has advanced a number of strategies to rethink and redesign its criminal justice system so that it is more fair, just and equitable for all.

01

PRE-ARREST DEFLECTION

This pre-arrest deflection effort is a strategy chosen after a review of jail data showed that the Tucson Police Department accounted for nearly half of the total bookings in the Pima County jail. Instead of incarceration, the pre-arrest deflection strategy redirects individuals with substance abuse and/or mental health issues to community treatment resources.

02

EXPANDED PRETRIAL SERVICES

Pretrial Services expanded to include a substance abuse caseload, in addition to its established behavioral health caseload.

03

IMPROVED PROBATION PRACTICES

The Adult Probation Department of the Superior Court in Pima County changed its model to recommending jail stays for probation violations only as a final resort, after exhausting every other possible option to continue community supervision. Pima County Probation now accomplishes more to ensure successful community supervision and avoid probation revocations.

04

JAIL POPULATION REVIEW

The Jail Population Review Committee identifies people with felony charges who pose little risk to public safety and may be safely released from the jail while awaiting appearances before the Court. Thirty members meet weekly and represent county and city agencies, community treatment providers, peer networks, supportive housing providers, and community members. Case management strategies are identified and recommended.

05

STEPS DIVERSION PROGRAM

Supportive Treatment and Engagement Programs (STEPS) is a felony diversion program that launched in 2021. STEPS is a new pre-charging drug court program, aimed at offering participants an opportunity to connect with substance abuse treatment rather than cycle in and out of jail. STEPS has the potential to divert an estimated 500-700 pretrial defendants per year from criminal case processing.

06

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

The county pledged to engage the community in reimagining its justice system. This included holding Tribal Listening Sessions; developing a trauma-informed mentorship program for young Black males; and creating a robust Community Collaborative comprised of justice systems leadership with community representatives to collectively transform the justice system.

Results

As a result of the strategies above, Pima County has made progress towards its goal of rethinking and redesigning its criminal justice system.

Quartery ADP for Pima County (2016-2024)

6.2% from baseline

More Results

From March 2019 to March 2021, over 1,200 individuals awaiting court appearances for felony charges were released through the efforts of the Jail Population Review Committee, either via modified conditions of release and community supervision or to residential housing or treatment. These releases equate to over 42,000 jail days reduced at a cost of $127.20 per bed day, adding up to savings in detention costs and a reduced average daily jail population.

Pima County Superior Court’s Enhanced Supervision program helped save an estimated 4,633 jail bed days for individuals in the first and second quarters of Fiscal Year 2020-2021, through more robust staffing and case management.

Pima County Adult Probation Department released their “Probation Strategy CQI Dashboard” for FY 2020-2021, demonstrating a variety of successes as a result of their strategies. Among those include a significant reduction in the numbers of Petitions to Revoke (PTR) filed. Fewer PTR’s filed result in fewer persons arrested on a probation violation warrant and booked into the county jail. Rather than file a PTR, probation officers work harder to reengage probationers and find solutions to barriers to success.

The county’s data collection and analysis efforts have improved with the placement of additional staff, providing data to the Tucson Police Department, a dedicated Data Coordinator for the Justice Services Department, and the Jail Population Coordinator. For example, the data analyst at the Tucson Police Department helped produce interactive data dashboards on a variety of topics including use of force, reported crimes, arrests, traffic collisions, traffic enforcement, and police activity, which will inform future strategies to improve practices within the justice system.

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and due to staffing reductions, the county’s Community Collaborative group fell into a hiatus. The county revived this dynamic group in February 2021 and the focus shifted to seeking out the perspectives and recommendations from members, rather than providing information to members. The Community Collaborative developed an action plan with interrelated areas of work aimed at deepening the county’s connection to the broader community, particularly people who have been historically overrepresented in the justice system.

Remaining Challenges

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

While progress has been made, issues of differing database systems, coding systems, and privacy persist, which makes data sharing among the stakeholders challenging.

Enhanced caseloads in Pretrial Services have not made much of a dent in lowering the jail population. The impact of judicial autonomy and decision-making was not factored in considerations of justice reform. When judges are unwilling to consider release recommendations, the best plans for reform can become stalled. Further, if courts do not collect data on judicial decisions, efforts to reduce racial, ethnic, and even income disparities become even more difficult to address.

The pandemic slowed Pima County’s Racial and Ethnic Disparities and Disproportionalities program. At the end of February 2021, the Community Collaborative began meeting monthly and reestablished its Racial Equity Community Action Team, a subcommittee whose purpose is to develop and implement a plan to engage the community through a series of Community Dialogues that will collaborate and coordinate with community organizers, identify gaps, and lead to policy recommendations to the County’s Board of Supervisors.

In order to sustainably support long-term strategies to reduce racial and ethnic disparities and disproportionalities in the justice system, while ensuring community voice and experience is incorporated into all Pima County’s justice reform work, Justice Services has hired a Community Engagement and Equity Specialist. This position, funded with General Funds, will lead the Community Collaborative, future Listening Sessions, and work to incorporate data-driven decision making into trauma-informed policy and programming.

Justice Services also contracted with a Tribal Engagement Specialist (member of the Tohono O’Odham Nation) to lead a series of Listening Sessions with two local tribes. Due to both shutdowns related to the pandemic, as well as cultural stigmas associated with discussing justice system involvement, the sessions struggled to yield results. Pima plans to revisit this strategy once pandemic restrictions are lifted, with future guidance from local experts who can inform a culturally-competent approach.

Last, 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.

Lead Agency

Pima County Administrator’s Office

Contact Information

Kate Vesely
kate.vesely@pima.gov

Mayra Ramos
Mayra.Ramos@pima.gov

Partners

Pima County Attorney’s Office, Pima County Public Defense Services, Pima County Sheriff’s Department – Adult Detention Complex, Pima County Superior Court, Pima County Adult Probation, Pima County Pretrial Services, Tucson City Court, City of Tucson Public Defender’s Office, City of Tucson Prosecutor’s Office, Tucson Police Department

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Shelby County, TN

Change in Jail Population 6%

Action Areas Courts Pretrial Services

Last Updated

Background

Shelby County, which contains the city of Memphis, is the most populous county in the state.

When Shelby County joined the Safety and Justice Challenge, the number of bookings into its jail was decreasing, but the average length of stay was rising, particularly for in-custody felony defendants.

The Shelby County Jail is a pretrial detention facility. In August 2017, 15% of the people had been in jail for more than 500 days.

Racial and ethnic disparities persisted in the county’s justice system. Specifically, Black and Hispanic people were overrepresented in the jail.

Case processing times continued to increase. Delays in the held-to-state process, which refers to those cases that are bound over to the grand jury and reflect mostly felony cases, and lengthy time intervals associated with continuances, were identified as two main factors contributing to this increase.

Overuse of detention causes disruption in the stability of arrestees’ families and communities, leads to higher re-arrest rates, and produces worse case outcomes with more back-end incarceration.

Strategies

Since joining the Safety and Justice Challenge, Shelby County has advanced a number of strategies to rethink and redesign its criminal justice system to make it more fair, just, and equitable for all.

01

IMPROVED CASE PROCESSING

To reduce case processing time for in-custody felony defendants, the county used many approaches: developed a Differentiated Case Management plan; reviewed cases for people in custody 500+ days; established a third Grand Jury and a process for those cases that are bound over to the grand jury; and provided earlier appointment of counsel for felony defendants.

02

PRETRIAL RISK ASSESSMENT

In July 2019, the courts began using a new research-based risk assessment tool, the Public Safety Assessment, to predict pretrial success and ensure people could be released from jail safely.

03

CONSOLIDATING MISDEMEANOR CITATIONS

For people facing misdemeanor citations, there was an opportunity to make the system more efficient. The misdemeanor citation process was consolidated to one appearance date that now includes both processing and court.

Results

As a result of the strategies above, Shelby County has made progress towards its goal of rethinking and redesigning its criminal justice system. The county has been able to reduce its jail population while keeping the community safe.

Quartery ADP for Shelby County (2016-2024)

6% from baseline

More Results

As of early 2021, the Public Safety Assessment tool was used to review more than 26,000 people in jail to assess whether or not they could be safely released back into the community while awaiting trial. In July 2019, the release on recognizance rate, which measures the amount of people who are safely released without paying bail, barely exceeded 15%. As of January 2021, the release on recognizance rate had nearly doubled to more than 31%.

As a result of efforts to improve case processing, the Differentiated Case Management plan was signed by all ten independently elected criminal court judges in September 2019. Two Differentiated Case Management Coordinators began in January 2020, and are working more closely with five of the ten criminal court judges, as of February 2021.

In addition, six jail population management reports were developed and completed by April 2019 to measure the length of time between various steps in the criminal justice system. Without data to understand the current situation, decisions about change could not be made.

The Criminal Court Clerk’s Office also reduced and began reporting the time between indictment returned and arraignment in criminal court. The time from arraignment to appointment of a public defender for felony cases in General Sessions Court began decreasing in May 2018, a change that was widely embraced by judges.

Remaining Challenges

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

Access to data that would allow for both an analysis of what is happening now in the justice system and creating data-driven solutions remains a challenge.

To get there, the county will build case management dashboards that provide a current summary and detailed information for those in criminal court. Once the dashboard is completed, it will give people a better understanding of cases on each docket. Following this, the county will build pretrial dashboards, which will track information related to appearance rate, concurrent rate, success rate, pretrial length of stay, and recommendation rate among other key data.

Finally, 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.

Lead Agency

Shelby County Sheriff’s Office

Contact Information

Katy Mack
Katy.Mack@shelby-sheriff.org

Partners

Shelby County Criminal Court Clerk's Office, Shelby County Criminal Court Judges, Shelby County Pretrial Services, Shelby County District Attorney's Office

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New Orleans, LA

Change in Jail Population 29%

Action Areas Community Engagement Diversion Pretrial Services Racial Disparities

Last Updated

Background

When the City of New Orleans joined the Safety and Justice Challenge in 2015, the city incarcerated nearly twice as many people each year as the national average and had a jail population of over 1,500.

Most people jailed (89%) in New Orleans were awaiting a disposition, meaning they had not been tried or convicted of a crime, and thus, constitutionally, were still considered innocent.

People of color were over-incarcerated in the jail. Black men were arrested at twice the rate of white men, while black women were arrested at 1.6 times the rate of white women. This racial disparity is carried over into who gets detained in the jail, where Black men (15-64 years old) comprised 88% of the jail population but only made up 19% of the total New Orleans population.

One of the biggest drivers of disparities in the New Orleans jail population concerned an individual’s ability to pay bail, and in Louisiana money bail is required for every charge upon arrest. Many people were incarcerated because they are poor, not because they pose a risk to the community.

Roughly 30% of the jail population were people with mental health issues and nearly 15% of the population reported a substance use disorder.

Strategies

Since joining the Safety and Justice Challenge, New Orleans has advanced several strategies to rethink and redesign their criminal justice system so that it is fairer, just, and equitable for all.

01

ACCESS TO DEFENSE COUNSEL

The Public Defender at First Appearance Initiative helps ensure that low and low-moderate risk defendants are not detained because of inability to pay. Research shows that judges are more likely to release defendants on their own recognizance and are more likely to reduce bonds to an attainable amount when defense counsel are present at first appearance. The initiative is supported by two attorneys and client advocates.

02

IMPROVED PRETRIAL SERVICES

Pretrial Services allow courts to make sound decisions to release people from jail while awaiting trial, without putting public safety at risk. The initiative includes the implementation of a Public Safety Assessment and expanding the use of Release on Recognizance. Also, the Community Supported Release initiative supports people with services (i.e., child care) to eliminate barriers that impact court date attendance.

03

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

The Community Advisory Group (CAG) consists of 28 community members who are committed to holding criminal justice agencies accountable. The CAG members generously volunteer their time and effort to collaborate with public agencies and officials. Members include residents from across the city, social and legal professionals, university faculty members, victims of crime, and individuals with lived experience.

04

DIVERSION TO SERVICES

New Orleans’ Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) provides local police officers with the resources and support to divert an individual with mental illness, substance use, or social challenges, at the point of arrest to intensive case management and community-based treatment options. LEAD aims to reduce the recidivism of individuals with mental and substance use disorders. It will be expanding city-wide.

05

CENTERING RACIAL EQUITY

New Orleans’ approach to reducing ethnic and racial disparities within its justice system is three-fold: Use research best practices; conduct data collection and analysis on disparities using a decision point analysis and interactive data dashboards; and establish an Ethnic & Racial Disparity Working Group (see below).

06

RACIAL DISPARITY WORKING GROUP

The Ethnic and Racial Disparity Working Group sets specific, measurable, and achievable goals to reduce justice system involvement for people of color. The group includes half government agency and half community members. It analyzes disparities across the justice system; develops or adjusts strategies to bring a stronger equity lens; develops goals for reducing racial disparities; and evaluates impacts of the work.

Results

As a result of the strategies above, as well as other key strategies such as increased discretion for law enforcement to issue citations and the decriminalization of minor drug offenses, New Orleans has made progress towards its goal of rethinking and redesigning its criminal justice system, exceeding the population reduction targets it set out to achieve.

Quartery ADP for New Orleans (2016-2024)

29.1% from baseline

More Results

The Sandy Krasnoff Criminal Justice Council, the Jail Population Management Subcommittee and the City Council’s Criminal Justice Committee have been actively leading initiatives that have manifested system change in New Orleans to date. Stakeholder buy-in has been instrumental in successful implementation of many of the Safety and Justice Challenge reforms.

New Orleans’ Average Daily Population in the jail has been further impacted by initiatives to reduce the average length of stay for low-risk felony defendants, increase the use of Release on Recognizance (RORs), facilitate risk-based decision making, invest in first appearance advocacy, and conduct bond reviews. This strategy led to a 40% increase in RORs for lower-risk defendants at first appearance, and a 47% increase in the proportion of lower-risk defendants released within three days.

Remaining Challenges

New Orleans is focused on addressing its remaining challenges in its local justice system.

In New Orleans, COVID-19 brought many challenges, while also illuminating and creating an environment that encouraged further and more inventive and adaptive system reform. During the pandemic, the New Orleans jail population dropped to historic lows, which demonstrated that incarceration could be successfully minimized, and without sacrificing public safety.

The strategies have shifted as the pandemic has progressed. The pretrial services program enrolled more individuals, most individuals successfully completed the prosecutorial diversion program, and the 2021 Diversion Program expanded eligibility criteria to divert more people. The public defenders and criminal court judges continue to work to ensure that more individuals are released on no- or low-bond amounts, and stakeholders have regularly met on a monthly basis to continue to respond to new challenges, such as court case backlogs due to COVID-19 prohibiting jury trials.

The city’s challenge now is to sustain positive measures beyond the immediate crisis.

Lead Agency

Office of Criminal Justice Coordination

Contact Information

Commissioner Tenisha Stevens

Partners

New Orleans City Attorney, New Orleans City Council, New Orleans Health Department, New Orleans Municipal & Traffic Court, New Orleans Police Department, Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, Orleans Parish District Attorney, Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, Orleans Public Defenders, New Orleans SJC Community Advisory Group, Mayor’s Office Human Rights and Equity, Vera Institute of Justice's New Orleans, Operation Restoration, Foundation for Louisiana, Total Community Action, First 72Plus

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Ada County, ID

Change in Jail Population 18%

Action Areas Community Engagement Courts Pretrial Services Racial Disparities

Last Updated

Background

Ada County joined the Safety and Justice Challenge to better understand its jail population and to implement impactful, data-informed changes across the system to reduce the jail population and disparities.

At the time, there was over-reliance on incarceration for lower-risk, non-violent offenders in the jail. The biggest contributors to the jail population were pretrial detainees, accounting for well over 50 percent of the overall population, as well as length of stay. The average length of stay for low- and low-moderate-risk defendants was 56 days.

This overuse of detention caused disruption to the stability of arrestees’ families and communities, and led to higher re-arrest rates.

Strategies

Ada County advanced a number of strategies to rethink and redesign its criminal justice system so that it is more fair, just, and equitable for all.

01

IMPROVED CASE PROCESSING

To improve case processing, the county implemented additional “second look” practices through collaborative efforts by the jail population review team, which includes system stakeholders who meet on a regular basis to discuss case types that drive the jail population and determine potential cases for safe release; reducing timelines for pre-sentence investigations; and speeding up the processing of parole violations.

02

EXPANDED PRETRIAL SERVICES

The county expanded its use of evidence-based risk assessments to help judges measure risk to the community. This helped judges make more informed decisions regarding pretrial release, instead of relying solely on a cash bail system.

03

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

The county facilitated direct, honest conversations with members of its community about their experiences. It also studied relevant arrest and booking data to understand racial disparities in jails. Moving forward, the county is working to engage with the community to develop effective and sustainable solutions to make the justice system more fair and equitable.

04

COURT NOTIFICATIONS

The county created a new text, email and call-based notification system to allow the Ada County Clerk of Courts staff to send alerts to people with upcoming court dates and ultimately, reduce failure to appear rates in court.

05

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CRISIS CENTER

The State of Idaho opened a new Behavioral Community Crisis Center in Boise to provide support for people suffering from mental illness or substance use issues, a disproportionately high population in the jail. Ada County continues to work closely with the State of Idaho to ensure that the center will be able to serve as many citizens who need it as possible.

Results

As a result of the strategies above, Ada County has made progress towards its goal of rethinking and redesigning its criminal justice system.

Quartery ADP for Ada County (2016-2024)

18.3% from baseline

More Results

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.

Lead Agency

Ada County Sheriff’s Office

Contact Information

Kristen MacLeod
Ada County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Justice Coordinator/Safety + Justice Grant Manager
kmacleod@adacounty.id.gov

Partners

Ada County Clerk's Office, Idaho 4th Judicial District judges and magistrate judges, Idaho Department of Correction, local law enforcement agencies, Ada County Prosecutor's Office, Ada County Public Defender, Ada County Trial Court Administrator, Ada County Commissioners, Boise City/Ada County Housing Authority, Boise State University, community leaders and service organizations, Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole, Idaho Department of Health & Welfare, mental health professionals, Pathways of Idaho Community Crisis Center, Idaho Black History Museum, state legislators

Follow @AdaCoSheriff

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