The Thirteenth Judicial District Court will operate a Pretrial Services program, starting May 17th, 2022, for the district and magistrate courts in Cibola County.
Under our American justice system, people charged with a crime are presumed innocent unless proven guilty. Defendants also have a constitutional right to be free while awaiting trial, except in limited circumstances, if they follow conditions imposed by a court for their release from custody after an arrest. In protecting a person's liberty, the government avoids punishing someone who awaits a determination at trial of whether they are guilty of a charged offense - a fundamental principle of the state and federal justice systems.
Once an individual is arrested, judges are required to determine whether the individual qualifies to be released within a certain period of time. A pretrial services program monitors released defendants for compliance with conditions imposed by judges. Pretrial staff meet regularly with defendants, provide court date reminders and notify the court, prosecutors and defense counsel of any violations of release conditions.
Courts will use a research-based tool, called the Public Safety Assessment (PSA), to provide objective information to judges to help determine the appropriate level of pretrial supervision and monitoring for defendants. When implementing the PSA, a policy framework was developed for pretrial supervision based on the risks posed by a defendant. The data-driven assessment measures the likelihood that defendants will return for future hearings and avoid re-arrest while released pending trial. The evaluations do not override a judge’s decisionmaking authority. Instead, the PSA is an important tool for prosecutors and defense attorneys in presenting arguments to the judge. The judges continue to make the decisions on whether to release defendants and impose certain restrictions on them pending trial.
The new court program in Cibola County is part of a collaborative effort by the New Mexico Judiciary to improve and expand the use of evidence-based pretrial practices across the state. Reforms in New Mexico have moved away from a pretrial system that previously relied on money and the ability to afford a bail bond to determine who gained their release from jail pending trial. Today pretrial decisions are based on evidence of the potential for non-dangerous defendants to violate their release conditions. New Mexico voters adopted a constitutional amendment in 2016 that created a limited circumstance for the pretrial detention of defendants when evidence shows that the only way to protect public safety is to hold the person in jail until trial.
Courts in San Juan, Sandoval, Dona Ana, Grant and Bernalillo counties have successfully integrated the PSA as part of their pretrial services programs. The pretrial initiatives in Cibola County is implemented in collaboration with the district and magistrate courts, the Thirteenth Judicial District Attorney's office, criminal defense attorneys, Cibola County Sheriff’s Office, Grants Police, New Mexico State Police, Pueblo of Acoma Police, Cibola County DWI program, and the Cibola County Detention Center.
New Mexico's pretrial improvements are supported nationally and locally with assistance from the National Institute of Corrections (NIC). Learn more at A Framework for Pretrial Justice: Essential elements of an Effective Pretrial System and Agency, NIC, 2017.