Pretrial Release

In 1976, Kentucky became the first state in the country to abolish bail bonding for profit. The Kentucky General Assembly created the Pretrial Services Agency to administer a Pretrial Release Program as a division of the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC).

Since the program began, pretrial officers have interviewed more than 2.7 million defendants to determine if they can be released from jail while awaiting trial. The program operates under the basic assumption that defendants are presumed innocent. Federal and state constitutions support a defendant’s right to a reasonable bail, as well as the release of a defendant pending trial, unless the evidence is strong enough to suggest that he or she will fail to appear in court.

Pretrial officers serve all 120 Kentucky counties and are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This accessibility allows them to interview defendants within 12 hours after incarceration. All information recorded during the interview is strictly confidential and used for court-related purposes only.

The pretrial officer records and verifies the information obtained during the interview and completes background checks before making a recommendation to the court as to the defendant’s flight risk, anticipated criminal behavior and danger to the community.    Judges use the information provided by the pretrial officer to make a release decision.

The Division of Pretrial Services recently revised its risk assessment instrument, which is used by pretrial officers to conduct the initial interview. The risk assessment instrument measures the defendant’s risk of flight and anticipated criminal conduct by weighted factors such as community ties, employment and criminal history.

The previous instrument used an objective 22-point system based on research from the 1960s and 1970s. In 2006, the Division of Pretrial Release drew on current research to update the instrument. Today the interview results can be entered into a computer model that will define for judges whether defendants fall into low-, moderate- and high-risk categories. Judges can make better-informed decisions about bond when they have information that is statistically shown to predict the likelihood a defendant will return to court and not commit an offense while out on bond.

For low-risk defendants, pretrial officers will recommend release on recognizance or other non-financial bond.

For moderate-risk defendants, pretrial officers will recommend release on recogni-zance or other nonfinancial bond, with conditions that are related to the nature of the risk posed by the defendant.

For high-risk defendants, pretrial officers will not recommend release on recognizance, with or without conditions, unless they conduct further assessments to determine how likely the defendant is to flee or reoffend. However, if the court releases high-risk defendants on nonfinancial conditions, pretrial officers would monitor compliance.

If the judge determines that a defendant can be released while awaiting trial, he or she can apply a broad range of options, from releasing a person on his or her own recognizance to detention.

Once the defendant is released, the pretrial officer verifies his or her attendance at each scheduled court appearance and monitors any conditions placed on the defendant by the court.