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RES-2018-025 <br /> <br />ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> <br />RESOLUTION SUPPORTING 3DaysCount™ – A NATIONWIDE EFFORT TO MAKE <br />COMMUNITIES SAFER AND ENSURE BETTER OUTCOMES FOR ALL BY APPLYING <br />COMMON SENSE SOLUTIONS TO WIDESPREAD PRETRIAL JUSTICE CHALLENGES <br /> <br />WHEREAS, nearly 12 million people are booked into United States jails each year, mostly for <br />nonviolent misdemeanors; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, more than 60 percent of people in jail are not convicted – detained before trial largely <br />because they are too poor to post even small money bond amounts – costing local governments a <br />nationwide aggregate of nearly $14 billion annually in incarceration expenses; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, pretrial detention is deeply disruptive to people’s lives and can have serious <br />consequences, from interrupted education and medical treatment to lost jobs, housing, and even <br />custody of children; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, the money bail system places a disproportionate and unfair burden on people of color, <br />who, on average, face higher bail amounts even as they have fewer resources as a result of <br />chronic, systemic exclusion from economic opportunity; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, research shows that when people who are most likely to appear in court and stay out <br />of trouble are detained for even three days, they become more likely to be arrested for new cr iminal <br />activity during the pretrial period compared to similar individuals released within just 24 hours; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, the money bail system allows nearly half of those least likely to succeed on pretrial <br />release to quickly buy their release from jail with little to no meaningful support or supervision, <br />without regard for the needs of victims, witnesses, and the broader community; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, the goals of 3DaysCount™ are to help states reduce unnecessary arrests by <br />expanding the use of citations or summons, replace money bail with non -financial, least restrictive <br />conditions, restrict detention to the small number of people for whom no condition or combination of <br />conditions can reasonably assure appearance in court and public safety, and reduce disparity within <br />the pretrial justice system; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, Orange County has already implemented many of the recommendations of the Pretrial <br />Justice Institute including internalizing the Pretrial Release program in the Criminal Justice <br />Resource Department, using an evidence-based pretrial risk assessment tool, ensuring the <br />presence of defense counsel at first appearances, increasing opportunities for pre-arrest diversion, <br />employing mental health professionals to work directly with individuals incarcerated at our jail to <br />assess and refer to treatment in the community and continuing to collect data and measure <br />performance on our efforts; <br /> <br />NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Orange County Board of Commissioners hereby <br />endorses the goals of 3DaysCount™; and <br /> <br />BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that Orange County Board of Commissioners strongly urges our <br />state-level stakeholders and government leaders to apply to join the Pretrial Justice Institute’s <br />3DaysCount™ initiative. <br /> <br />This the 17th day of April 2018. <br /> <br />_________________________________ <br />Mark Dorosin, Chair <br />Orange County Board of Commissioners <br />3