Pretrial Incapacitation Duration Impacts the Odds of Recidivism among Unreleased Bond-Eligible Defendants

Abstract

In the United States criminal defendants are generally subject to a detention hearing following arrest. At this hearing, a judge determines whether the defendant is eligible for release prior to trial and bail is set accordingly. In most cases, defendants are released prior to adjudication (i.e., pretrial), yet often, bail is set and the defendant remains in jail until adjudication or s/he is held for an extended duration prior to pretrial release. Whether the duration of pretrial is empirically tethered to the odds of subsequent offending for those otherwise eligible for release, net of other effects, remains unclear. Relying on data from the population of defendants in Dallas County, Texas, this study assessed whether the pretrial jail duration impacted the likelihood of recidivism (re-arrest) among bond-eligible defendants who remained in jail from arrest through disposition, rather than being released pretrial. Theoretical and policy implications are discussed.