One-page summary.

Bell County was chosen for a study on how adult probation works in Texas.

An article about the female probation officers of the Orange County Probation Department.

Four years ago, a La Crosse man received a maximum sentence for attempting to flee an officer and operating a vehicle without the owner’s consent, entering a guilty plea on both charges. The sentence included a six-year prison term.

What irked the defendant, Eric Loomis - and what he eventually argued in a petition for review to the U.S. Supreme Court - was that the sentencing judge had used a private company’s proprietary software to help determine his fate.

"The Indiana Risk Assessment System (IRAS) is made up of five separate instruments to be used at specific points in the criminal justice process to identify an offender’s risk to reoffend and criminogenic needs. These instruments are used at distinct points in the criminal justice system to promote and assist with developing individualized case plans. By appropriately targeting the identified criminogenic needs through individualized case plans, it is anticipated recidivism will be reduced."

"The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC) has long supported supervision and programming practices rooted in the ever-growing body of the "what works" literature. Implementing evidence based practices begins with utilizing a valid risk and need assessment tool. In 2006, DRC contracted with the University of Cincinnati, Center for Criminal Justice Research, to develop a universal Ohio-based assessment system that would be utilized at various points in the criminal justice system. This project was recently completed and is called the Ohio Risk Assessment System (ORAS).

"Identifying defendants who are most likely to not return to court for their trials is key to reforming the bail system in Wisconsin and nationwide. Doing so will cut costs and increase public safety."

"Properly validated evidence-based pretrial risk assessment tools are better predictors of pretrial success than money bail or professional discretion alone. Jurisdictions can implement a pretrial risk assessment tool using data collected manually from local, state and federal databases, but a pretrial risk assessment tool would ideally be automated and integrated with existing systems that house relevant data. Implementing an automated pretrial release tool is a relatively small project with the potential for significant judicial, social and fiscal benefits."

""There are people who can be safely managed in the community and the only reason they are not is they don't have any money whatsoever," says Washoe District Court Judge Elliott Sattler, who has administrative oversight responsibilities for the county's pretrial services."

"The pretrial phase of the criminal justice process should aim to protect public safety and assure defendants’ appearance in court, while honoring individuals’ constitutional rights, including the presumption of innocence and the right to bail that is not excessive. Yet research shows that low-risk, nonviolent defendants who can’t afford to pay often spend extended time behind bars, while high-risk individuals are frequently released from jail. This system causes significant harm to too many individuals and is a threat to our communities."