Pretrial Services

The primary function of Pretrial Services is to provide information that will assist the court in determining release eligibility and setting release conditions pursuant to Maryland Rule 4-216 and Criminal Procedure Article 5-202.  Toward this end, Investigators conduct one-on-one interviews with defendants to obtain information on residence, family and community ties, employment, substance abuse, criminal record, and failures to appear.  Independent verification is sought from references named by the defendant and others who may possess relevant knowledge, including parole and probation agents.  If the defendant is charged with failing to appear, pretrial attempts to verify the reported reason are initiated to determine if willful.  Full criminal history information is accessed through all available computer information systems.

Pretrial assesses the likelihood of appearance at future court proceedings by weighing the information gathered and developing release recommendations accordingly.  As called for by the American Bar Association (ABA) and National Association of Pretrial Services Agencies Standards, recommendations are based on objective criteria in the form of a point scale.  Pretrial does not factor the current charge or dangerousness into its recommendation, instead pretrial focuses solely on risk of non-appearance.  The issue of danger or pretrial misconduct is left to the Court to weigh based on defense and prosecution arguments and in accordance with Rule 4-216.

Pretrial recommends release under non-financial conditions or ten-percent bail.  This position is based on the aforementioned standards, which discourage monetary conditions unless determined that no other conditions will assure appearance.  Program policy precludes recommendations in cases where the defendant is charged with crime of violence as defined in Maryland Annotated Code, Criminal Law Article, Title 14, Section 101, though the full background report is provided to the Court.

Pretrial Investigators summarize verified information and release recommendations for oral report to the court at bail hearings.  Convictions, PBJs, Failure to Appear, Detainers, Probation Compliance, PSRU Compliance and pending charges are reported from criminal history information.

The Court has the option of ordering supervised release as an alternative to monetary bail or unsupervised personal recognizance.  Defendants granted supervised release are placed in one of five levels of supervision based on their risk of failure to appear and pretrial misconduct as determined using an objective point scale, and/or as ordered by the Court.  All defendants on supervised release are required to comply with general conditions of release (see Pretrial Release Contract, following), special conditions of release designed to address individual risk, and maintain regular contact with Pretrial Services (see Conditions of Release by Supervision Level, following).  

Defendants assigned to Supervision Level 1 check in by telephone once per week by way of a state-of-the-art automated voice response system.  This system provides both English and Spanish translation.  Defendants check in by entering an identification number on a touch-tone phone.  In the event the defendant fails to call on his/her assigned day, the computer system starts phoning his/her home during evening hours until contact is made.  Personal contact between a defendant and staff may be achieved when desired by either party.  The automated system also reminds defendants of court dates with every call and allows them to verify them any time they wish.  Additionally, the system calls defendants daily once the trial or hearing date is within three days, and case-monitoring staff sends written reminders.

At the other end of the supervision spectrum is Level V, which is only applied when ordered by the Court.  Defendants assigned to Level V are on house arrest while awaiting trial (See House Arrest – Condition of Pretrial Release).

(Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor) Program, is a court ordered program that requires the defendant to be monitored and wear a bracelet 24/7 for detection of alcohol.  The SCRAM unit performs an alcohol test to the skin every 30 minutes, features anti-tamper technology with multiple sensors and uploads data to the SCRAM base station on a pre-determined schedule for easy reporting and analysis.  Defendants can be court ordered t SCRAM who are assigned to Levels 2, 3, 4.

The intermediate levels of supervision involve assignment to a Case Manager who is responsible for enforcing all conditions of release, including telephone and in-person contact, urinalysis and substance abuse treatment.  The higher the supervision level, the greater the contact requirements and restrictions.  Failure to comply, with conditions of release are reported to the Court. 

Pretrial offers District Court Commissioners the option of releasing defendants to Pretrial’s Supervised Release Unit.  Defendants released by Commissioners are directed to report to Pretrial Services for intake and assignment to a supervision level the following business day.

• Check-in by telephone one to seven times per week using the automated Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system.
• General conditions as stipulated in the Release Contract

• Check-in by telephone once per week using the automated Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system.
• One mandatory urine test per month on random basis.
• Special conditions as ordered by the Court or required by the Case Manager.
• General conditions as stipulated in the Release Contract.

• One in-person meeting with the Case Manager per week.
• One mandatory urine test per month on random basis.
• Special conditions as ordered by the Court or required by the Case Manager.
• General conditions as stipulated in the Release Contract. 

• Two in-person meetings with the Case Manager per week.
• Two mandatory urine tests per month on a random basis. 
• Special conditions as ordered by the Court or required by the Case Manager. 
• General conditions as stipulated in the Release Contract.

• House Arrest, including curfew and restrictions on movement.
• One in-person meeting with the Case Manager per week.
• Two mandatory urine tests per month on a random basis.
• Special conditions as ordered by the Court or required by the Case Manager.
• General conditions as stipulated in the Release Contract.