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GPL Presents on its Work with Judges in Harris County, Texas to Reduce Pretrial Condition Use

This Spring, GPL Fellow Hena Rafiq presented at the Texas Association of Pretrial Services Conference with pretrial expert and Harris County Pretrial Services (HCPS) Division Manager Janey Smith. Hena and Janey presented to pretrial practitioners from across Texas about their work with judges at HCPS to reduce the use of pretrial conditions such as drug testing and alcohol or electronic monitoring devices through step-downs. Step-down programs allow judges to regularly review the conditions under which defendants are placed upon being charged and make adjustments based on defendants’ compliance with those bond conditions. Woman in green shirt standing next to woman in pink floral print shirt   

During the presentation, conference attendees shared their struggles with over conditioning, such as the frequent use of drug testing and electronic monitors on defendants, and their desire to build trust among judges in their jurisdictions to solve this issue. These conference goers saw step-downs as a potential entry point into building that trust and getting judges comfortable with using conditions less frequently.  

Key topics covered in the presentation included:

  • Setting up an internal process for step-downs: The presentation walked through how to design a step-down program, collect compliance data, train staff, and monitor the program’s success.

  • Working with judges to reduce condition use: A key focus of the presentation was how the GPL and HCPS engaged local criminal court judges to involve them in creating and implementing a step-down program. Topics covered around this included how to recruit judges to test new practices, which types of data to share with judges, and how to host peer-to-peer discussions with judges.

TAPS slideHena and Janey also provided attendees with a simple checklist on how to set up their own step-down program and access to customizable templates they can use for their program.

Learn more about the GPL’s work with Harris County Pretrial Services. To access any of the resources shared during the GPL’s presentation at TAPS, please reach out to Hena Rafiq at hena_rafiq@hks.harvard.edu.