Pretrial Justice and Jail Management: A Guide for County Officials

The Edward Byrne Memorial Competitive Program: National Initiatives, administered by the Office of Justice Programs' Bureau of Justice Assistance, furthers the Department's mission by assisting state and local jurisdictions in improving the criminal justice system and assisting communities in preventing drug abuse and crime. In FY 2008, the program will focus on funding local, regional, and national efforts within five major categories: 1) preventing crime and drug abuse; 2) enhancing local law enforcement; 3) enhancing local courts; 4) enhancing local corrections and offender reentry; and 5) facilitating justice information sharing.

The Pretrial Justice Institute will implement the Pretrial Justice and Jail Management Project under category 4: enhancing local corrections and offender reentry. They will compile and publish a handbook for county officials on the issues, uses, and costs of incarcerating offenders in county jails. The handbook will be compiled in collaboration with the National Association of Counties, and will be published and mailed to more than 3,100 counties in the U.S. The goal of the handbook is to present the option of pretrial release and diversion as an alternative to pretrial detention. The handbook will be presented at the two National Association of Counties Legislative conferences. It will also be posted on the websites of the Pretrial Justice Institute and the National Association of Counties.

CA/NCF