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Increasing Appearance Rates

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the appearance rate in the U.S. averages 82% for released felony defendants. No national data is collected on misdemeanor defendants. The rate varies by jurisdiction and type of offense. It also is affected by the notification and reminder systems in jurisdictions.

Failures to appear are costly for the criminal justice system, affect witnesses willing to testify, and for can be painful for victims awaiting justice. But research shows that appearance rates can be positively affected by simple changes in practice within the court or pretrial program. Research has shown reductions in failure to appear between 4-14%, which in jurisdictions with voluminous caseloads can be a substantial reduction.

 

The following publications highlight research done on jurisdiction’s attempts to increase court appearance rates. Reports focusing on NYC defendants may be found at the NYC Criminal Justice website. More documents may be found in the Library.

 
Pretrial Justice Institute 730 11th Street NW Suite 302 Washington, DC 20001 Tel: 202-638-3080 Fax: 202-347-0493