Bail Reform: Are the Talked About Costs Misleading?

Jails throughout the country are detaining more and more inmates and county governments are feeling an increased pinch when it comes to housing costs.

On one hand, the logic behind releasing inmates through pretrial services has some merit (on the surface, at least, but we'll get to that in a moment).

If the jails can identify low-level offenders that do not pose a risk to public safety, who haven't hired a bondsman, one might think there's a fiscal benefit in terms of letting them out on their own.

Not only would this save taxpayers a ton of money when it comes to inmate housing costs, it would also free up bed space which could be used for more serious offenders. Right?

In theory it's a great idea.  In practicum, well that's a whole different story.

Defendants released via pretrial services are the least likely to go to court

The appearance rate, or lack there of, is the elephant in the room that few (if any) legislators are wanting to talk about.

This is where the true cost of pretrial services comes in.   Here's how the numbers break down.

Out of all the forms of release including attorney bonds,  cash bonds, bail bonds and release through pretrial services, inmates released through the help of a bondsman are the most likely to handle their case.

Compare that to the flip side of the coin, where defendants who are released via a means other than bail bonds are between 39 and 56 percent likely to skip out on that responsibility, well those numbers speak for themselves.

Pretrial services costs taxpayers millions of dollars

Dallas County, Texas estimates they lose about $1,775 in administrative costs for each failure to appear (FTA) defendant.  When you take into account that approximately 7,400 non-bail bonded defendants blow off court each year, that cost skyrockets to more than $13 million annually.

But if you compare that number to the estimated cost were commercial bail bonds to be the primary method of release, the financial loss to the county caps out at around $2 million per year-  which equates to $11 million in savings.

The per-day cost to detain someone spans between $50-$60 per day, according to a recent report, so moving to save that money on the front end, when it winds up costing a heck of a lot more in the long end, is a losing deal.

Ultimately, if people are going to talk about the cost of bail reform they need to look beyond the short-term savings, take a step back, and get a full view of the picture.