Glossary

Bench Warrant – A warrant for arrest issued by a Judge or Magistrate when a defendant fails to appear for a scheduled court appearance.

FTA (Failure to Appear) –The defendant and/or victim failed toappear for a scheduled court appearance.

Matrix System (risk assessment scheme): A risk assessment scheme that rates a defendant’s perceived dangerousness by means of a score based on how the defendant fits into a classification matrix that takes into account charge severity, prior criminal record, behavioral characteristics, etc.

Nonfinancial Conditional Release: “Conditional release” refers to any form of release in which the defendant is required to comply with specific limitations on association, movement, or activities during the pretrial period; in nonfinancial conditional release, money is not one of the limitations—i.e., money does not need to be posted for the defendant to be released. Conditions may include checking in with a pretrial release agency, maintaining a specified place of residence, avoiding complaining witnesses, or submitting to periodic drug testing, electronic surveillance, or intensive supervision. However, as this term is used here, conditional release does not include the two primary conditions which are objectives of most bail statutes—that the defendant refrain from engaging in criminal activity during the pretrial period and that he or she appear at trial as required.

Open Warrant – Issued when charges are filed against a defendant and the defendant is not present at the time of the offense.  

Point Scale: An objective instrument to determine release eligibility that assigns each defendant a certain number of points based on his or her answers to uniform questions asked during the pretrial interview (and subsequently verified in most jurisdictions) about the nature and extent of the defendant’s community ties to the locale (how long a resident, whether employed locally or in school, etc.); prior involvement with the criminal justice system, if any; and possible behavioral dysfunctions (drug or alcohol use, mental health problems, etc.). A fixed number of points are added to or subtracted from the defendant’s score based on his or her response to each standard question. A predetermined number of points typically is required by a jurisdiction for the defendant to be eligible for pretrial release. A point scale does not dictate the type of release to be granted; it only assesses the comparative release risk posed by the defendant based on the numerical score received.

Pretrial Detention: Also sometimes called “preventive detention.” The laws of many states and the federal system allow the court to detain certain carefully defined categories of defendants without possibility of pretrial release because in the judgment of the court they constitute so high a risk of flight or danger or both that no condition or combination of release conditions can reduce that risk to an acceptable level. A pretrial detention decision is not automatic simply because a defendant falls into one of the statutory categories defined as high risk. A decision must be made by a judicial officer after a due process hearing (“detention hearing”) that the facts warrant detention, i.e., that the prosecution has borne its burden of proof that the defendant constitutes so high a risk that he or she must be detained pretrial.

Release on Recognizance (ROR, OR, PR): Release on recognizance, or “own recognizance,” or “personal recognizance” refers to release of a defendant on his or her simple promise to appear for trial. As the term is used in this survey, ROR implies no additional conditions of release other than that the defendant appear in court as required.

Risk Assessment Scheme: The method by which a program/agency or individual assesses the risks of pretrial misconduct, i.e., failure to appear in court or rearrest on a new charge. Some jurisdictions base their risk assessment on a point scale, or matrix system (objective scheme), whereas others rely on subjective criteria by interviewers. Still others use a combination of subjective and objective criteria—interviewers are allowed to supplement or override a point scale determination based on certain subjective information given by the defendant during the interview.

Subjective Assessment Scheme: Typically based on questions in an interview similar to the questions in an objective assessment scheme but with no formal scoring. Rather, the recommendation is based on a subjective evaluation of the defendant by the interviewer, who draws on his or her prior experience to assess release eligibility.

Supervised Release: Supervised release implies frequent and intensive contact between the supervising agency and the defendant. For example, these conditions may include the defendants participating in a drug treatment or counseling program or working with a vocational counselor to secure employment.

Ten Percent Deposit Bail: A system of money bail which is designed to serve as an alternative to security or cash bond. After bail is set, the defendant deposits with the court 10 percent of the face amount of the bond. This amount is returned in full (sometimes minus a small administrative processing fee) at the successful conclusion of the pretrial period. If the defendant fails to appear in court as required, he or she becomes liable for the full face amount of the bond. Some deposit bail systems become activated in a given case only at the discretion of the releasing judicial officer (“court option”), whereas others are available as a matter of right to all defendants in cases in which money bond is set (“defendant option”).