Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability
Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability

Pretrial Release Programs Generally Comply with Statutory Data Collection Requirements

Report 11-27, December 2011

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Report Summary

  • During 2010, 29 Florida counties had pretrial release programs that supervised defendants who had been released from jail while awaiting disposition of their criminal charges. No program reported receiving state general revenue, with most programs (27) primarily funded through county funds. In addition, four programs received state or federal grants.
  • Eight programs were able to provide a breakdown of the nature of defendants' criminal history, which varied among programs. For these programs, the percentage of defendants with violent felony convictions ranged from 0.9% to 29.7%. Twenty-four programs reported that judges in their circuits have the discretion to assign a bond and require supervision by pretrial release programs to provide an additional layer of accountability.
  • Most programs reported that few defendants they served failed to appear in court or were arrested while in the program. As in prior years, programs reported varying outcomes for failures to appear, warrants for failure to appear, and defendant arrests.
  • Programs have generally complied with statutory requirements, as most (26) submitted an annual report to OPPAGA and reported that they maintain the required weekly registers. Most programs (27) also responded to OPPAGA's survey that requested additional information.
  • Some programs' annual reports do not contain all outcome data required by law. Some reporting requirements do not apply to programs that do not make release recommendations. Programs also could not report some criminal history information due to state and federal restrictions.

Related Reports
  1. No Title
    Report 10-08
  2. County Pretrial Release Programs: Calendar Year 2018
    Report 19-17 December 2019
  3. County Pretrial Release Programs: Calendar Year 2017
    Report 18-06 November 2018
  4. County Pretrial Release Programs: Calendar Year 2016
    Report 17-12 December 2017
Copies of this report in print or alternate accessible format may be obtained by email OPPAGA@oppaga.fl.gov, telephone (850) 488-0021, or mail 111 W. Madison St., Room 312 Tallahassee, FL 32399-1475.
Copies of this report in print or alternate accessible format may be obtained by email OPPAGA@oppaga.fl.gov, telephone (850) 488-0021, or mail 111 W. Madison St., Room 312 Tallahassee, FL 32399-1475.
pretrial, pretrial release, Citizens’ Right to Know Act, bond