• Home
  • About
  • In the News
  • Myths vs. Facts
  • Unanswered Questions
  • Action Center
Keep California Safe Keep California Safe Keep California Safe
  • Home
  • About
  • In the News
  • Myths vs. Facts
  • Unanswered Questions
  • Action Center
After Adopting Pretrial System: 40% of Defendants Aren’t Showing Up To Court in Harris County

After Adopting Pretrial System: 40% of Defendants Aren’t Showing Up To Court in Harris County

Dec 4, 2017 | Criminal Justice System, Harris County Texas |

Harris County, Texas shows that more than 40 percent of defendants released by the sheriff under the court-mandated bonds, the Arnold Foundation pretrial release system, aren’t showing up to their hearings.

The laughable excuse by the supporters of the Arnold Foundation program is that, “these numbers are inflated because those released by the sheriff are often given wrong court dates upon their release from jail.” The next sets of excuses are going to be: they got the wrong address, their car broke down, their tummy hurts, they had a toothache, their dog ate the summons and so on.

County reports on misdemeanor bonds show the people released on these sheriff-issued bonds are less likely to show up to court. From June to October, 45 percent of those bonds were forfeited or revoked, almost always because the higher-risk defendants did not show up for court hearings. https://www.texastribune.org/2017/11/29/heres-whats-happening-harris-county-now-sheriff-issues-bail-bonds/

Another problem with the Arnold Foundation pretrial release system is that in Harris County, virtually all those currently accused of a misdemeanor must be released from jail within 24 hours of their arrest, regardless of their financial ability to post bond.

In an October hearing, judges seemed skeptical of the injunction’s 24-hour deadline, especially because defendants sometimes have not yet seen a magistrate before that time – if inmates arrived to the Harris County jail from an outlying facility after 24 hours of their arrest and they hadn’t had their hearing yet, the sheriff was ordered to release them. https://www.texastribune.org/2017/10/03/harris-countys-federal-bail-reform-lawsuit-heard-appellate-court/

Tags: Bail SystemBob HertzbergCrimeDefendantsHarris CountyHarris County Pretrial SystemInmateJustice SystemMoney BailRob BontaSB 10Skipping CourtTexas
Share

You also might be interested in

NJSPBA President Outlines some of the Problems with New Jersey’s Risk Assessment Program

NJSPBA President Outlines some of the Problems with New Jersey’s Risk Assessment Program

Oct 18, 2017

https://youtu.be/6deWAvDGp-Q New Jersey State Policeman’s Benevolent Association President (NJSPBA) Pat[...]

Woman knees police officer in stomach after being told to leave building, yet FREE TO GO under NJ Bail Reform

Woman knees police officer in stomach after being told to leave building, yet FREE TO GO under NJ Bail Reform

Mar 26, 2018

“A 35-year-old Jersey City woman has been charged with kneeing[...]

A Bail Reform Time Warp

A Bail Reform Time Warp

Nov 30, 2017

Daily Journal By Eric Siddall Bail reform advocates are in[...]

Leave a Reply

Your email is safe with us.
Cancel Reply

KEEP CALIFORNIA SAFE. Take Action

© 2019 · Keep California Safe · All Rights Reserved

Prev Next