Orange County NC Website
22 <br /> <br />• internalizing the Pretrial Release program in the Criminal Justice Resource Department 1 <br />• using an evidence-based pretrial risk assessment tool 2 <br />• ensuring the presence of defense counsel at first appearances 3 <br />• increasing opportunities for pre-arrest diversion 4 <br />• employing mental health professionals to work directly with individuals incarcerated at 5 <br />the County detention center to assess and refer to treatment in the community; and 6 <br />• continuing to collect data and measure performance on County efforts. 7 <br /> 8 <br />Cait Fenhagen read the resolution: 9 <br />RES-2018-025 10 <br /> 11 <br />ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 12 <br /> 13 <br />RESOLUTION SUPPORTING 3DaysCount™ – A NATIONWIDE EFFORT TO MAKE 14 <br />COMMUNITIES SAFER AND ENSURE BETTER OUTCOMES FOR ALL BY APPLYING 15 <br />COMMON SENSE SOLUTIONS TO WIDESPREAD PRETRIAL JUSTICE CHALLENGES 16 <br /> 17 <br />WHEREAS, nearly 12 million people are booked into United States jails each year, mostly for 18 <br />nonviolent misdemeanors; and 19 <br /> 20 <br />WHEREAS, more than 60 percent of people in jail are not convicted – detained before trial 21 <br />largely because they are too poor to post even small money bond amounts – costing local 22 <br />governments a nationwide aggregate of nearly $14 billion annually in incarceration expenses; 23 <br />and 24 <br /> 25 <br />WHEREAS, pretrial detention is deeply disruptive to people’s lives and can have serious 26 <br />consequences, from interrupted education and medical treatment to lost jobs, housing, and 27 <br />even custody of children; and 28 <br /> 29 <br />WHEREAS, the money bail system places a disproportionate and unfair burden on people of 30 <br />color, who, on average, face higher bail amounts even as they have fewer resources as a result 31 <br />of chronic, systemic exclusion from economic opportunity; and 32 <br /> 33 <br />W HEREAS, research shows that when people who are most likely to appear in court and stay 34 <br />out of trouble are detained for even three days, they become more likely to be arrested for new 35 <br />criminal activity during the pretrial period compared to similar individuals released within just 24 36 <br />hours; and 37 <br /> 38 <br />WHEREAS, the money bail system allows nearly half of those least likely to succeed on pretrial 39 <br />release to quickly buy their release from jail with little to no meaningful support or supervision, 40 <br />without regard for the needs of victims, witnesses, and the broader community; and 41 <br /> 42 <br />WHEREAS, the goals of 3DaysCount™ are to help states reduce unnecessary arrests by 43 <br />expanding the use of citations or summons, replace money bail with non-financial, least 44 <br />restrictive conditions, restrict detention to the small number of people for whom no condition or 45 <br />combination of conditions can reasonably assure appearance in court and public safety, and 46 <br />reduce disparity within the pretrial justice system; and 47 <br /> 48 <br />WHEREAS, Orange County has already implemented many of the recommendations of the 49 <br />Pretrial Justice Institute including internalizing the Pretrial Release program in the Criminal 50