Jail officers’ new gig: Help free inmates

A handful of correction officers will go from watching inmates to helping free them.

The officers will be used as “bail facilitators” to assist people seeking to spring their loved ones behind bars — a move criminal justice reformers were seeking for more than a year, the Daily News has learned.

The facilitators are part of several initiatives the de Blasio administration is announcing Monday in response to critics upset that the process often takes five to six hours.

“We are committed to improving the bail and discharge process and excited to see these new measures at work,” Correction Commissioner Cynthia Brann said in a statement.

Correction officials say there will be at least one facilitator at every courthouse during court hours, as well as one at every jail facility.

The new initiative comes as the City Council plans to hold a hearing Monday “to examine the difficulties inherent to paying bail, and ways to implement effective reform.”

In 2017, the Council passed fives bills in an effort to make it easier for loved ones to post bail. One measure required the city to release detainees within three hours after their bail is posted. Another demanded the department make sure there are no “blackout periods” in which bail was not accepted.

Additionally, new detainees should be held in court for four to 12 hours if they have someone coming to post bail.

Critics say the Correction Department has done a poor job of fully following the new legislation.

“It is a constant frustration that the city fights us on the criminal justice reform bills that we want to pass and then drags its feet on the implementation of those bills,” said City Councilman Rory Lancman (D-Queens), who has called for sweeping bail reforms.

The city also announced it plans to install “courthouse kiosks” in each of the city's five courthouses near postarraignment spots. People can use the kiosks to pay bail via the new online system.