Pretrial release programs supervise defendants who have been released from jail while awaiting disposition of their criminal charges. Twenty-nine pretrial release programs responded to our survey requesting information regarding their 2015 operations. No program reported receiving state general revenue, with most (28) programs primarily funded through county funds. Three programs reported receiving state or federal grants.
Ten programs were able to provide a detailed breakdown of the nature of defendants' criminal histories, which varied among programs. For these programs, the percentage of defendants with violent felony criminal histories ranged from 0% to 27%. Twenty-eight programs reported that judges in their circuits have the discretion to both release a defendant on bond and require supervision by pretrial release programs to provide two layers of accountability.
While programs reported varying numbers of defendants that failed to appear or had new arrests, most programs reported that few defendants they supervised failed to appear in court or were arrested while in the program.
Programs have generally complied with statutory requirements, as 29 submitted an annual report and most reported that they maintained the required weekly registers. 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.

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.