Florida Pretrial Release Legislation Advances for 2011 Session

According to recent statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, violent crime is down nationwide and fewer arrests by law enforcement are being made. A 2009 report by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) found that local jail populations dropped by 2.3 percent from 2008 to 2009. This is the first decline in the U.S. jail population since the DOJ implemented the annual survey of jails in 1982. Large jails led the trend with Florida counties Miami-Dade and Orange leading the nation in overall decline of jail populations.


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Proposed law could increase bondsman revenue

LEE COUNTY: A program that could save you money and cut overcrowding in jails is in jeopardy. The program is called Pretrial Release. It allows non-violent offenders to stay out of jail while waiting for their court dates. And one group stands to gain greatly if the program goes away.

Each inmate processed, finger-printed, and fed at Lee County's Detention Center costs taxpayers $82 a day. That's nearly $5-million a month to care for about 2,000 inmates.           

Court administrators say a program called Pretrial Release prevents that cost from increasing.

"It does have that great benefit to it. If you're finding people who are safe to be out of the jail, who meet the criteria set forth, it works out very well in terms of saving money," says Sheila Mann, spokeswoman with the 20th Judicial Circuit.

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