Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability
Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability

County Pretrial Release Programs: Calendar Year 2022

Report 23-12, December 2023

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Report Summary

  • Pretrial release programs supervise defendants who have been released from jail while awaiting disposition of their criminal charges. As required by statute, OPPAGA conducts an annual study of pretrial programs that meet certain statutory criteria, administers a survey to gather information from the programs, and interviews and visits some programs. Twenty-nine local programs responded to the survey regarding 2022 operations and reported serving over 68,160 defendants. The surveyed programs vary in several ways, such as where programs are administratively housed and program size. Some pretrial release program practices, such as participant screening and supervision, differ from program to program due to these variations.
  • To remain on pretrial release, defendants must comply with all court-ordered conditions until the final disposition of their case. All pretrial programs reported a rate of 9% or less for participants failing to appear in court. Pretrial programs reported varying numbers of defendant re-arrests. Most programs reported successful completion rates of over 70%. Collectively, programs had higher rates of successful completion in 2022, an 81% average, compared to a 76% average in 2021 and a 74% average in 2020.
  • In 2022, program budgets totaled over $44.5 million, with county funds making up 97%. No program reported receiving state general revenue funds, while five programs reported receiving grant funds. Budgets ranged from $21,057 for the DeSoto County program (414 participants) to $9 million for the Broward County program (9,214 participants).
  • Statute requires each pretrial program to prepare a weekly register with information about the defendants released through the program and an annual report. Pretrial programs generally complied with these statutory requirements, with all 29 programs providing OPPAGA with weekly registers and an annual report. However, many programs’ reports did not include all of the statutorily required data elements. The Legislature could consider statutory modifications to update the annual report requirements to reflect best practices and weekly register reporting requirements to standardize public access.

Related Reports
  1. County Pretrial Release Programs: Calendar Year 2021
    Report 22-09 December 2022
  2. County Pretrial Release Programs: Calendar Year 2020
    Report 21-11 December 2021
  3. County Pretrial Release Programs: Calendar Year 2019
    Report 20-07 December 2020
  4. County Pretrial Release Programs: Calendar Year 2018
    Report 19-17 December 2019
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.
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.
annual report, arrest, bond, bondsmen, charges, Citizens Right-to-Know Act, complying, conducts investigations, criminal history, defendant fees, defendants, electronically monitors and supervises, failure to appear in court, pretrial, pretrial release, pretrial release programs, pretrial release recommendations, release on recognizance, statutory reporting requirements, survey