Information Technology

Pretrial programs handle thousands of cases each year. For programs to gather, store and retrieve information, they must make full use of the benefits of computer technology. 

Survey of Pretrial Programs Series:  Use of Information Technology

PJI has recently released the fourth national survey of pretrial services programs. Previous surveys were conducted in 1979, 1989, and 2001.

Listed below are the findings relating to the use of information technology.

Nineteen percent of pretrial programs rely exclusively on a manual system to gather, store and retrieve information.  Slightly more programs are using information systems to perform critical program functions compared to 2001.  Still, many programs rely on manual systems for some functions.  The majority of programs – 69 percent – percent use a combination of manual and automated systems. 

Programs most commonly use automated systems to prepare management information and report preparation.  Since the 2001 survey, the use of automation has increased for risk assessments, interviews and monitoring compliance.  The biggest increase is in using information systems for risk assessment, jumping from 15 percent in 2001 to 50 percent in 2008. 

This section contains the chapters of each set of standards related to this topic, examples submitted by programs, related publications and results from the Survey of Pretrial Programs series.