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Pretrial Release Initiative

As part of the Minnesota Judicial Branch’s Strategic Plan, the Minnesota Judicial Council has launched a Pretrial Release Initiative aimed at studying evidence-based tools for use by judges making pretrial release decisions. 

Under Minn. Stat. § 629.74 Minnesota Judicial Coucil approves pretrial evaluation forms to be used in each county.  Minnesota Judicial Council policy 524: Pretrial Release Evaluation, adopts the use of a statewide pretrial evaluation form and Minnesota Pretrial Assessment Tool (MNPAT) and directs the use of pretrial risk assessment tools in Minnesota District Courts. 

The assessment tool is meant to ensure that judges have the most predictive and least biased information, providing accurate, objective, and useful information for pretrial release decisions.

The assessment tools will be validated to ensure effectiveness and fairness in release decisions.

The Minnesota Judicial Council has established the Pretrial Release Initiative Implementation Steering Committee to implement the new statewide pretrial risk assessment tool and form. The Steering Committee is made up of public and private attorneys, probation representatives and law enforcement, court administration, and judges.

 

Steering Committee Members

 

John McBride
Judge, Chair
District 10
Brian Kopperud
Community Corrections Director
District 1
Luke Hennen
Sheriff
District 1
John Choi
County Attorney
District 2
Sara Grewing
Judge
District 2
Mary Leahy
Judge
District 3
Sara Gonsalves
Deputy District Administrator
District 4
Jamie Anderson
Judge
District 4
Josh Milow
Community Corrections Director
District 5
Dan Lew
Chief 6th District Public Defender
District 6
Wally Kostrich
Chief Probation Officer, Court & Field Services
District 6
Amy Turnquist
Court Administrator
District 6
Becky Bales Cramlet
Community Corrections Directions
District 7
Sarah Hennesy
Judge
District 7
Brenda Warren
County Probation Office (CPO) Agent
District 8
Bill Flaten
Yellow Medicine County Sheriff
District 8
Trisha Hansen
DOC Supervisor
District 9
Korey Wahwassuck
Judge
District 9
Amy Chavez
Chisago County Probation Office Director
District 10
Dylan Warkentin
Community Corrections Director
District 10
Jeff Shorba
State Court Administrator
SCAO
Al Godfrey
Department of Corrections Field Services Director
 
Bob Small
Executive Director, Minnesota County Attorney's Association
 
Landon Ascheman
Private Criminal Defense Attorney
 
Jessica Ryan
Tribal Court Judge and Indian Law Attorney
 
Updates
The Steering Committee began meeting in March 2018. To date the committee has made the following recommendations: 
 
  • The Court Services Tracking System (CSTS) was selected as the case management system where data from the Minnesota Pretrial Release Evaluation Form will be entered and stored for use in the validation study.
  • The modifications needed to the CSTS system to ensure data is entered and stored properly will be available in February 2019, but a mail-merge form can be created in CSTS until that time.  The form can be found on the Resources tab.
  • The Minnesota Pretrial Evaluation Form (the Minnesota Pretrial Assessment Tool (MNPAT) is part of the form) will be implemented in each county by December 1, 2018. Counties can implement the MNPAT any time after October 5, 2018 and before December 1, 2018.  Before using the MNPAT, all stakeholders must receive training.  Training materials, including an implementation training guide, can be found on the Resources tab.
  • The Committee acknowledged that each county may have unique implementation issues.  To ensure a smooth rollout of the MNPAT, each county should have a "County Leader" who leads the rollout.  That County Leader can use training materials to assist in the rollout, including an implementation training guide, found on the Resources tab.
  • Judge and Probation district champions have also been identified to help the County Leaders.
In January 2018, the Minnesota Judicial Council approved the Minnesota Pretrial Assessment Tool (MNPAT).

Anoka, Cass, Hennepin, Sherburne, and Wright counties will adopt and validate alternative tools that meet the statewide standards. All other counties will use the statewide tool, MNPAT. 

The Steering Committee is now developing a rollout schedule for the MNPAT.

The MNPAT will be validated through the State Court Administrator’s Office to promote consistent risk analysis. Alternative tools require approval from the Minnesota Judicial Council. Districts or counties using an alternative tool are required to meet the statewide standards for validation.

Minnesota Pretrial Release Evaluation Form and Assessment Tool (MNPAT)
Minnesota Pretrial Questionnaire
 
Pretrial Evaluation: The collection and analysis of a defendant’s information on factors impacting his/her likelihood to appear and risk to public safety.  May be conducted by local corrections or their designee (pretrial services, jail administration or law enforcement). 
Also known as:
  • bail evaluation
  • bail study
  • pretrial bail evaluation
Pretrial Evaluation Form: Template for recording factors of a particular defendant and the current charge used to inform the pretrial release decision.  A form does not assign a score or recommendation for pretrial release decisions and does not assign a weight for different factors.
Also known as:
  • pretrial evaluation form
  • bail form
  • form
Pretrial Release Decision: Release decision by court, or designated authority, that a defendant will be released on his/her own recognizance (ROR), released on conditions (CR), or released on bail/bond (bail).

Pretrial Release Process: The full process used in a court location (involving pretrial services and the court) from arrest/summons, including the pretrial evaluation, the pretrial release decision, and the actual release or detention of a defendant.

Pretrial Failure: An outcome that a pretrial risk assessment seeks to predict and minimize.  The most common outcomes are 1) likelihood of failure to appear (FTA) for court appearances in the present case and 2) likelihood of new crimes (e.g. arrest, charge) committed during the pretrial window (release to disposition).

Pretrial Risk Assessment Tool: A research-based (actuarial) instrument comprised of predictive factors that are weighted and scored to provide a recommended pretrial release decision (based on categorized risk of pretrial failure).  The tool is used to assist the court, or its designated authority, in making pretrial release decisions. 
Also known as:
  • tool
  • scale
Validation: A study of the effectiveness of a tool at predicting the outcome it seeks to predict on a specific population.

Racial Bias (in the Pretrial Risk Assessment Tool context): the tendency to treat those in a racial group (or groups) differently or unfairly. Racial discrimination is a result of racial biases, which can be explicit (conscious preference for a race), or implicit (preference for a race that operates outside of our awareness). 

Racial Disparity (in the Pretrial Risk Assessment Tool context): Racial disparity occurs when a racial group’s proportion of a particular statistic is over-represented as compared to its percentage of the population
For example: the percentage of those arrested as a proportion of the population.

Race Neutral (in the Pretrial Risk Assessment Tool context): a policy or score, for example, classifies individuals without regard for their race.