Every crime in California is defined by a specific code section. Our attorneys explain the law, penalties and best defense strategies for every major crime in California.
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Every crime in California is defined by a specific code section. Our attorneys explain the law, penalties and best defense strategies for every major crime in California.
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Pretrial Assessment Services (PAS) is a division of the California criminal courts that determines whether newly-arrested defendants should remain in jail or get released on their own recognizance (OR) while awaiting trial.
PAS conducts “pretrial risk assessments” of newly-arrested people to determine whether they are at a low-, medium-, or high risk of:
Defendants with a low-risk grade may be freed from jail on their OR pending trial. Meanwhile, medium-risk defendants may or may not get released from jail – PAS holds a pre-arraignment review to make this decision. Finally, high-risk defendants remain in jail pending their trial.
As noted above, California’s Pretrial Assessment Services holds a “pre-arraignment review” to determine if medium-risk defendants can get released from jail pending trial. As the term implies, this review is held before a defendant’s arraignment – usually within 24 hours of the defendant’s booking.
Please note that PAS can recommend either:
PAS conducts “pretrial risk assessments” of newly-arrested people to determine whether they are at a low-, medium-, or high risk of:
Defendants with a low-risk grade may be freed from jail on their own recognizance pending trial. Meanwhile, medium-risk defendants may or may not get released from jail (PAS holds a pre-arraignment review to make this decision). Finally, high-risk defendants remain in jail pending their trial.
Pretrial risk assessments are based on a validated risk assessment tool that is backed by science and shown to be reliable for calculating a person’s risk level.2
Please note that people arrested for misdemeanors generally get released from jail without first obtaining a pretrial risk assessment. The only exception is if the misdemeanor charge was for either the California crime of:
California’s Pretrial Assessment Services holds a pre-arraignment review to determine if medium-risk defendants can get released from jail pending trial.3
During a pre-arraignment review, PAS decides whether to either:
Like it sounds, a pre-arraignment review takes place before the arraignment (or the formal filing of charges). Specifically, these reviews must occur within 24 hours of a defendant’s booking. However, they can be postponed for an additional 12 hours for good cause shown.
Defendants granted OR release by PAS pose a low- or medium-risk of hurting others or missing future court appearances. OR defendants must do the following:
Defendants granted supervised OR release pose a medium risk of hurting others or missing future court appearances. Supervised OR release is different from regular OR release in that it imposes extra conditions that a defendant must follow. Common examples of these conditions include:
The PAS is required to impose the least restrictive condition(s) necessary to reasonably assure the safety of the public and the defendant’s return to court.
Defendants ordered to remain in jail pending the outcome of their case pose either a medium-risk or high risk of hurting others or missing court appearances. These persons must remain in jail until their case has been resolved.5
No, but the two are similar.
Many California courts or probation departments currently have a “Pretrial Services” division that provides defendant background information and release recommendations to the court.
Depending on the jurisdiction, courts will create entirely new PAS divisions or rely on a modified version of their current Pretrial Services division.
A former Los Angeles prosecutor, attorney Neil Shouse graduated with honors from UC Berkeley and Harvard Law School (and completed additional graduate studies at MIT). He has been featured on CNN, Good Morning America, Dr Phil, The Today Show and Court TV. Mr Shouse has been recognized by the National Trial Lawyers as one of the Top 100 Criminal and Top 100 Civil Attorneys.