2013 Tax Dollars at Work

If you are one of those people who believe that when an alleged crime is committed, and law enforcement has probable cause to arrest someone for allegedly committing the crime and takes them to jail, that person will have to find family and/or friends to bail them out of jail.

In many cases that is exactly what happens.  But increasingly, people arrested on probable cause grounds for committing a crime and are taken to jail, are simply let out of jail a few hours later and the taxpayers are the ones who are footing the bill!  And not for just minor offenses or for defendants who have stellar backgrounds.

Around the country, there are national organizations funded in part with federal dollars, that are advocating and relentlessly promoting the abolition of all financial release from jail and pushing the taxpayer-funded release agenda to elected officials and policy makers that use taxpayer funds to operate county jails.  They claim that defendants are "languishing in jail" because they can't afford monetary release from jail.  And in essence, it is the fault of those "greedy bail bond agents" who only care about increasing their profits, don't supervise defendants or care about public safety.  These organizations have attempted to convince our judiciary and elected officials that unless they establish such programs, the jails will burst at the seams and taxpayers will be on the hook for millions of dollars.  And of course, the message being given is that taxpayer-funded programs can supervise and monitor defendants much better than their private-sector partners who have just been in the business for centuries.

Fortunately in Florida, the Citizens' Right-to-Know Act was enacted in July 2008, which requires taxpayer-funded pretrial services programs to make available to the public a weekly registry that includes information on defendants released through the program as well as an annual report.

In Florida's 28 taxpayer-funded pretrial services programs, Judges have broad discretion to place defendants, including those with serious charges and criminal histories, in such programs in lieu of financial bail.  In some cases, Judges will order both a financial bond and supervision under a taxpayer-funded pretrial services program, which more often than not, requires the defendant to be supervised via an automated telephone monitoring system.  Bail agents are financially and physically responsible for defendants released on bail; this additional layer of "supervision" is unnecessary and not a wise use of taxpayer funds.

The commercial bail bond industry acknowledges that taxpayer-funded pretrial services programs can be an instrument to reduce jail overcrowding if used for the right purposes.  Originally created to help the release of indigent, first-time, non-violent offenders, today these programs have morphed into huge bureaucratic programs that can cost millions of dollars to fund.

For example, in our own back yard, the Orange County jail's pretrial services program was funded at $2,797,196 for the 2011 calendar year (source: OPPAGA); the 2012 annual report is not due until March of this year so we have been unable to obtain the 2012 budget numbers without a public records request.

Of this $2.7 million, $1,394,627 was allocated for inmate identification, court information, and release processing of non-secured releases (without financial release); $1,402,568 was allocated for post-release supervision of non-secured releases.  So what is the return on investment?  Well, $16,371 was collected from a total of 6,758 defendants served through the program.  You do the math.

For the week of December 30, 2012 through January 5, 2013, below is a snapshot of the charges defendants were released on at First Appearance hearings into the jail's taxpayer-funded pretrial services program:

• 2 charges for failure to appear for court
• 1 charge for DUI
• 11 charges for domestic violence
• 2 charges for petit theft
• 2 charges for aggravated battery on a pregnant person
• 1 charge for hindering communication to law enforcement
• 1 charge for aggravated assault domestic violence
• 1 charge for battery on law enforcement officer
• 1 charge for attempting to resist law enforcement with violence
• 1 charge for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon
• 1 charge for battery dating violence
• 1 charge for false imprisonment domestic violence
• 1 charge for false reports of commission of a crime
• 1 charge for perjury
• 1 charge for false official statements
• 1 charge for throwing deadly missile at a person
• 1 charge for child abuse

In the coming weeks we will be highlighting some disturbing releases through Orange County's taxpayer-funded pretrial services program for defendants charged with serious offenses and who have lengthy and serious criminal histories.  Our goal is to educate Orange County citizens on how their tax dollars are being used and to make them aware of the types of crimes people are being released on from jail using such dollars.

Public policy affects public safety.

Florida's Pretrial Services Programs Wasting Tax Dollars

Florida has 28 pretrial services programs funded by taxpayers that provide free jail release to hundreds of defendants each year – regardless of their ability to pay for their own release. Some defendants are court-ordered into the program or court-ordered to be released on their own recognizance (ROR), while others are released “administratively” by jail staff into the program or “administratively” ROR.

The Florida Legislature’s Office of Program Policy Analysis & Government Accountability (OPPAGA) is charged with evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of Florida’s pretrial services programs. OPPAGA is statutorily required to produce an annual report on Florida’s programs that covers how the programs are funded, the nature of criminal charges of defendants, failure to appear rates and new arrests, compliance with statutory requirements, budget and outcome information, participant fees and compliance with the Citizens’ Right-to-Know legislation.
 
OPPAGA was asked by the presiding officers of the Florida Senate and House of Representatives to conduct follow-up research based on their last annual report dated December 2010. This additional research compared 2008 and 2009 pretrial services budgets, percentage changes in index crime rates for 2008 and 2009, jail population and occupancy rates and fees charged to program participants.

The annual budget for Florida’s pretrial services programs for fiscal year 2009  range from a low of $100,526.00 to a high of $5,358,619.00. Twelve counties had an increase in their 2009 budget over fiscal year 2008 despite a decline in the percentage of the index crime rate within the county. The following counties who had increased budgets for 2009 are below:

• Broward: 3.05 percent budget increase; -4.0 percent decrease in crime
• Charlotte: 1.0 percent budget increase; -16.5 percent decrease in crime
• Collier: 26.24 percent budget increase; -6.1 percent decrease in crime
• Duval: 41.40 percent budget increase; -10.1 percent decrease in crime
• Leon: 120.73 percent budget increase; -7.5 percent decrease in crime
• Miami-Dade: 9.03 percent budget increase; -6.8 percent decrease in crime
• Okaloosa: 14.03 percent budget increase; -8.4 percent decrease in crime
• Orange: 134.43 percent budget increase; -12.2 percent decrease in crime
• Osceola: 4.26 percent budget increase; -3.3 percent decrease in crime
• Palm Beach: 0.44 percent budget increase; -4.5 percent decrease in crime
• Polk: 0.71 percent budget increase; -7.8 percent decrease in crime
• Santa Rosa: 21.25 percent budget increase; -8.6 percent decrease in crime

OPPAGA also found that jail populations and occupancy rates varied greatly among all Florida counties.  Furthermore, they determined that there was no correlation between a county's occupancy rate and whether or not they have a pretrial services program. 

This fact is important as advocates of taxpayer-funded pretrial services programs have said that without such programs it will accelerate the need to build more jail beds.  We know this is not the case.  In fact, Pasco County eliminated its pretrial services program in February 2009 and saved taxpayers $348,000 annually.  OPPAGA's most recent follow-up report stated that Pasco County's jail population did not increase after eliminating its pretrial services program.  Nor has the population of the 39 other Florida county jails that don't have a pretrial services program dramatically increased.

Florida taxpayers should let their legislators know that their critical tax dollars should be spent more wisely than providing free release from jail!