NCJ Number
147128
Date Published
1980
Length
109 pages
Annotation
This study examines how the bail system worked in the District of Columbia courts in 1974, 11 years after the District hosted one of the country's first experiments with pretrial release on recognizance (ROR).
Abstract
The 12-month study period covered 11,000 cases; 62 percent of accused felons and 80 percent of accused misdemeanants were released on their own recognizance or to a third-party custodian. Half of bail bondsmen operating in the District in 1966 had gone out of business by the time this study was conducted and less than one-quarter of serious crime defendants were required to post a surety bond. Seriousness of the charge and prior record were the strongest determinants of whether financial bail was imposed. However, defendants accused of serious crimes were more likely to be paroled in third-party custody than those accused of less serious crimes and the likelihood of conviction seemed to play no role in setting conditions of release, which instead were influenced by the occupancy rate of the D.C. Jail. Failure to appear in court was related to unemployment and drug use; those under third-party custodianship had a high rate of nonappearance. About 13 percent of accused felons and 7 percent of released misdemeanants committed further crimes during pretrial release. Chapter references