(The Center Square) – A recent report by the Florida Legislature’s research arm found that taxpayers pay $47 million for pretrial diversion programs that serve 69,000 offenders.
These programs administered by county sheriffs, county commissions or local courts supervise offenders released from jail while awaiting disposition of criminal charges. The Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability is required to perform an annual examination of the program by surveying managers of 32 diversion programs and clerks of the court.
Offenders must comply with all court-ordered conditions. According to the report, less than 7% for participants fail to appear in court with a program success rate of 70%.
Most of the money spent on the program, $47 million, comes from county funds (96%). DeSoto County spent the least on its pretrial diversion program, $33,500, while Broward County spent the most at $10 million.
Under state law, each pretrial program must prepare a weekly register that informs the public about program participants and an annual report of activities and operations. While 31 programs provided the analysis department with weekly reports, the authors said not all of them included all of the required data.
According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, 536,821 arrests were conducted by state and local law enforcement officials. Following arrest, an offender is booked into a local jail, followed by a court appearance in 24 hours of an arrest.
Defendants in pretrial detention make up 70% of the population of county jails, with Florida right at the national average.
The state’s constitution provides for pretrial diversion programs except in the case of the offender committing a capital crime or being a threat to the community.
There are three ways an offender can be released pretrial. The first is release on recognizance without court-ordered conditions.
Offenders can also post bail or a surety bond with an agent that ensures an offender makes their court appearance.
Lastly, there are local pretrial release programs where offenders are supervised with either direct contact or electronically with a global positioning system monitoring.
The report recommended lawmakers redefine what a pretrial diversion program is to increase reporting transparency.
They recommend weekly reporting requirements for public and private entities that don’t perform all of the pretrial diversion functions – investigating pretrial detainees, making pretrial release recommendations to the court and electronically monitoring and supervising pretrial defendants – and are exempt from reporting requirements.
State officials also recommend that annual reporting requirements be changed to reflect best practices, such as outcomes (release rates, rates of court appearances, new arrests and program completion success rates among others), performance measures such as screening for release-eligible offenders and compliance with court-ordered release conditions.
