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 Association of Counties Oppose Limiting Tax Dollars for Release

The Florida Association of Counties (FAC) issued a "Call to Action" today stating it opposes Florida's pretrial release bills, SB0372 and HB1379.

The FAC alert states that any legislation that "limits pretrial agencies' ability to effectively supervise pretrial defendants using locally accepted conditions of release," will be opposed.

Well SB0372 nor HB1379 in any way limits pretrial agencies from effectively supervising defendants.  The bills simply state that if a defendant is not indigent and eligible for the services of a public defender, they shouldn't be released on the taxpayers' dime.  As it is, Florida taxpayers shell out $30 million per year to fund government-funded pretrial services programs, even for defendants who can and should be paying their own way.

The FAC alert went on to say that "pretrial agencies save tax dollars by allowing defendants who cannot afford bond to remain in the community and keep the community ties that encourage law abiding behavior." 

SB0372 and HB1379 doesn't change that scenario at all.  Those defendants who can demonstrate to the court that they are indigent and cannot afford a bond, will still be eligible to be released into a pretrial services program.

The FAC alert also states that "such [legislative] changes would result in an added expense to the taxpayer while more individuals wait in jail and increase the likelihood for jail overcrowding."  This statement is unfounded.

A recent report by the Florida Legislator's oversight arm for pretrial services programs, confirmed this assertion as false.  They examined the 28 Florida counties that have a pretrial services program with the 39 counties that don't have a pretrial services program.  This independent analysis concluded that, "there appears to be no correlation between counties' occupancy rate and whether or not they have a program."

This analysis refutes the notion that pretrial services agencies keep jail populations in check - they do not. 

We would ask that FAC review these reports from the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability before issuing an alert stating inaccurate facts and opposing legislation that would take the financial burden off of taxpayers.

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!

Florida's Pretrial Services Programs: Understanding the Cost to Taxpayers

Taxpayer-funded pretrial services programs expanded in Florida in the 70's and 80's when the state's jails and prisons were dangerously overcrowded, with the goal of facilitating the release of indigent defendants so they wouldn't languish in jail. Such is not the case today. Jail populations are generally under capacity in most Florida jails and crime is down, yet taxpayer-funded pretrial services programs today release defendants who are not indigent, have committed violent offenses and who often have lengthy criminal and driving offense histories. There is no consistency across the state regarding how such programs operate because they are governed by administrative orders issued by the chief judge of the circuit and not by specific legislative action.

Out of the 67 Florida counties, 28 counties have such programs and are funded from $77,000 to $5.2 million in taxpayer dollars. The Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA), part of the Florida Legislature, was tasked with examing the efficiency and effectiveness of Florida's pretrial services programs with the passage of the Citizens' Right-to-Know Act in July 2008. In their latest report (10-08) issued in January 2010, OPPAGA noted that out of the 28 Florida taxpayer-funded pretrial services programs, only 24 programs responded to their legislative request for information. Of those programs that did report, they did so with varying degrees of thoroughness. Accurate reporting is mandated by the Florida Legislature yet four counties simply thumbed their noses at this requirement and didn't even bother to respond.

Hillsborough, Jackson, Monroe and Seminole Counties provided no information to OPPAGA in order to determine if their taxpayer-funded programs were meeting best practices, ensuring defendants appeared in court and were not rearrested. Of the programs that did respond, half of them did not report data on these key outcomes. As stated by OPPAGA, "the programs' failure to report outcome data limited our ability to determine the statewide percentage of defendants served by the programs and who violated the terms of their release."

So what can we determine from the information that was provided?

From the 24 taxpayer-funded pretrial services programs that provided data, the following statistics provide key information on defendants interviewed and released and what it cost the taxpayer:

Defendants interviewed for non-secure pretrial services release: 140,411
Defendants declared indigent by the court release: 57,514
Defendants recommended for non-secure pretrial services release: 19,181
Defendants granted non-secure pretrial services release: 17,586

The reporting counties are allocated $26,582,463 of tax dollars to fund their programs! The average cost to the taxpayer to fund the release of a defendant in Florida prior to trial under a pretrial services program equates to $1,511.56 per defendant!

Now let's contrast the cost to the taxpayer for a defendant to be released on a bail bond:

Average cost of bail in Florida: $2,000
Cost to the defendant for release on bail (minimum $100 or 10 percent of the full amount of the bond): $200
Cost to the taxpayer for release on bail: $0

Critics of the private surety bail industry say the only thing a bail bond does is ensure appearance. True, the cornerstone of a bail agent's responsibility is to make sure a defendant released on bail does attend all court appearances - if not, that bail agent will have to pay the full amount of the bond back to the court. However, bail agents also determine risk and obtain detailed information on all defendants they release on bail - family, friends, job, residency, social hobbies, social ties etc. - to make sure they can find that defendant at any given time. And, they often will require a defendant to check-in regularly with them or make visits to the defendant as well. But most importantly, the bail agent integrates a defendant's family and/or friends into the bail contract to help enforce conditions of release and as an added layer of accountability. All of these efforts increase public safety!

But let's talk for a minute about the failure to appear and re-arrest rates of defendants released through Florida's pretrial services programs. Of the 17,586 non-secure releases through Florida's programs, 5,402 defendants failed to appear for court or were rearrested for a new crime while under pretrial services release. At a cost of $1,511.56 per release for these 5,402 defendants, the taxpayer had a direct LOSS of $8,165,447 out of the initial $26+ million investment. We are not saying defendants released on bail don't ever fail to appear or are not rearrested for a new crime - the difference is, it costs the taxpayer nothing when this happens as the bail agent is financially and physically responsible for that defendant!

There is an old saying in the criminal justice arena regarding the type of release from jail:

"If a defendant skips on bond they know they have in effect stolen the bail agent's money and the agent has a personal incentive to bring the defendant back to court to recover their money. You can cut off your GPS monitor, cheat on your drug test or lie to your officer, but your bail agent will come and get you."

As taxpayers, we have the responsibility to let our legislative bodies know how we feel our limited tax dollars should be spent. In today's economic environment, do you want your tax dollars spent by undefined and largely unregulated pretrial services programs who have no common consistency whatsoever, or through a highly regulated and licensed private surety bail industry that costs the taxpayer nothing to release and supervise defendants from jail pending the closure of their case?

Public policy affects public safety!