Pretrial group picks Pulaski County for nationwide initiative
Pulaski County was selected to participate in a national initiative to streamline the pretrial justice system to benefit residents, according to the county.
According to the announcement on Wednesday, Advancing Pretrial Policy and Research (APPR) will work with multiple Pulaski County justice leaders on a committee to advance the pretrial experience and streamline standards across different courts.
Circuit Judge Herb Wright said the group will attempt to develop standards tailored for Pulaski County to be fair to everyone involved with the justice system.
“[We’re] trying to develop what will be a best practices for Pulaski County, so that if someone is in the criminal justice system, whether they’re a defendant or a victim or a family of one or the other, that the system is easy to follow,” Wright said. “[So that] it’s not confusing what’s expected out of the folks, and it is fair to everybody involved.”
Advanced Pretrial Policy and Research works with lo
This streamlining of the processes and provision of help to those who are disadvantaged will improve the system not just by making it fair but also more efficient, according to Carter.
cal communities to improve the systems for pretrial justice to increase fairness to residents.
According to co-director Madeline Carter, this would include taking data from the county to model a new pretrial system.
“To accomplish this, APPR’s Research-Action Sites — including Pulaski County — receive intensive technical assistance to assess their system of pretrial justice, collect and interpret local data, and design and implement research-based strategies that are responsive to local needs and designed to improve pretrial outcomes,” Carter said.
In the release, Wright noted that the current system may be different based on which judge handles the case. When Wright spoke to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, he said it would also streamline justice for those arrested by different agencies.
“For instance, if you’re arrested in Jacksonville by the Jacksonville Police Department, if it’s a felony, you’re going to go to Jacksonville District Court before you get to Pulaski County Circuit Court,” Wright said. “If it’s in Sherwood, you’re going to go to Sherwood District Court before you get to Circuit Court. Right now each of those has their own different aspects.”
This streamlining of the processes and provision of help to those who are disadvantaged will improve the system not just by making it fair but also more efficient, according to Carter.
“Ultimately, APPR’s vision is to assist jurisdictions like Pulaski County with advancing pretrial justice in ways that are fair, just, equitable, effective, and efficient,” Carter said.
The committee is made up of representatives from many areas of Pulaski County leadership, including the courts, sheriff’s office, prosecuting attorney and public defenders.
The committee also includes the Pulaski County Crisis Stabilization Unit, the UAMS College of Public Health and local drug and alcohol facilities and leaders.
According to Wright, the health representatives play an important role in the justice system and will be looking to streamline helping those with mental health or substance abuse issues.
“The mental health issues and substance abuse issues are all very important in the criminal justice process, because, unfortunately, a lot of the times we see a result from that,” Wright said. “By dealing with some of those issues pre-trial, we hope to break the cycle of reoffending because of substance abuse.”
Those suffering from substance abuse issues will also have problems showing up to places when they are supposed to, according to Wright, which may mean more jail time.
“If someone is abusing substances, they’re not likely to understand the basic requirements or follow those instructions,” Wright said. “If they’re high, they’re not going to show up to court when they’re supposed to show up which will result in additional charges and additional jail stays.”
Part of the goal for the look at the pretrial system will be making sure that those who are in the jail are the ones that need to be there. According to Wright, this is to ensure there is always room in the jail for inmates.
“Part of our goal is to make sure no one goes to jail that doesn’t need to be there,” Wright said. “You may have a criminal charge … but if it’s more likely than not that you are going to show up, and you’re not going to engage in further criminal activity, there’s no reason for us to put you in jail and wait until your case is resolved.”
The first phase of the changes has begun, according to Wright, who said he is working with the committee to find improvements as APPR is mapping the pretrial system.
Carter said that afterwards the team will look at the data collected from the mapping to analyze outcomes to find potential improvements.
“Over time, APPR will assist Pulaski County to build the capacity to collect and evaluate pretrial data into the future,” Carter said. “This will allow Pulaski to continue evaluating improvements over time, including identifying future areas of improvement and addressing racial or other disparities in their system.”