1320.35.
(a) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this section to understand and reduce biases based on race, ethnicity, gender, age, economic circumstances, and behavioral or developmental disabilities in pretrial release decisionmaking.(b) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) “Pretrial risk assessment tool” means an instrument used to determine the risks associated with individuals in
the pretrial context.
(2) “Pretrial services agency” means an agency or organization designated by the county to conduct pretrial risk assessments and provide other pretrial services to defendants.
(3) “Validated” means that the overall input criteria and each individual input criterion for a risk assessment tool have been evaluated, calibrated, and normalized using statistical methods to optimize accuracy and have been demonstrated by scientific research to be accurate and reliable in assessing the risk of a person failing to appear in court as required or the risk to public safety due to the commission of a new criminal offense if the person is released before adjudication of their current criminal offense and to minimize bias.
risk assessment tool has been demonstrated by scientifically accepted methods to do both of the following:
(A) Accurately and reliably assess (i) the risk that an assessed person will fail to appear in court as required and (ii) the risk to public safety due to the commission of a new criminal offense if the person is released before the adjudication of the current criminal offense for which they have been charged.
(B) Minimize disparate impact based on race, ethnicity, gender, age, economic circumstances, and behavior or developmental disability.
(c) (1) Any pretrial risk assessment tool used by a pretrial services agency shall be validated by January 1, 2021, and on a regular basis, basis thereafter, but no less frequently then than once every six months.
three years. A pretrial services agency may coordinate with the Judicial Council to validate a pretrial risk assessment tool.
(2) A pretrial risk assessment tool shall be validated using the most recent data collected by the pretrial services agency within its jurisdiction, or, if that data is unavailable, using the most recent data collected by a pretrial services agency in a similar jurisdiction within California.
(d) (1) In order to increase transparency, a pretrial services agency shall, with regard to a pretrial risk assessment tool that it utilizes, make the following information publicly available:
(A) Line items, scoring, and weighting, as well as details on how each line item is scored, for each pretrial risk assessment tool that the agency uses.
(B) Validation studies for each pretrial risk assessment tool that the agency uses.
(2) A pretrial services agency shall, when selecting which pretrial risk assessment tool to utilize, consider if ensure that the agency would be able to comply with paragraph (1) if that tool was selected.
(e) The Judicial Council shall maintain a list of pretrial services agencies that have satisfied the validation
requirement described in subdivision (c) and complied with the transparency requirements described in subdivision (d).
(f) A pretrial services agency shall collect and retain all of the following information regarding any pretrial risk assessment tool that it uses:
(1) Input information, including, but not limited to, both of the following:
(A) The age, gender, race, ethnicity, and arrest offense for each individual assessed using the pretrial risk assessment tool.
(B) The total number of individuals assessed.
(2) Performance measures, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(A) The number of interviews and assessments conducted on eligible booked detained individuals.
(B) The number of assessed individuals, aggregated by risk level.
(C) The number of cases in which the detention or release recommendation by the agency conducting the assessment does not conform with the release or detention decision of the judicial officer.
(D) The rate at which the pretrial
assessment staff conducting the assessments follows pretrial risk assessment criteria when recommending release or detention.
(E) The rate at which judicial officers follow the detention or release recommendation of pretrial risk assessment staff.
(F) The rate at which judicial officers make a pretrial detention decision that is more restrictive than the release recommendation of pretrial risk assessment staff.
(3) Outcome measures, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(A) The percentage
and raw number
of assessed and released individuals who make all scheduled court appearances.
(B) The percentage and raw number of assessed and released individuals who are not charged with a new offense during the pretrial stage.
(C) The percentage and raw number of assessed and released individuals who are not
arrested for a new offense during the pretrial stage.
(D) The ratio percentage and raw number of assessed and supervised individuals whose supervision level or detention status corresponds with their assessed risk of pretrial misconduct.
(E) The percentage and raw number of assessed and released individuals who violated conditions of release that resulted in revocation of pretrial release.
(F) The percentage and raw number of assessed and released individuals who appear for scheduled court appearances, are not charged with any new offense during pretrial supervision, and did not receive a court remand.
(4) All of the following additional data:
(A) The number of individuals released, aggregated by release types, ordered during a specified timeframe.
(B) The number of supervised defendants divided by the number of pretrial officers or case managers.
(C) The time between the pretrial services agency’s assumption of supervision of an individual
and the end of supervision of the individual.
(D) The proportion of pretrial defendants who are detained at any point throughout pretrial case processing.
(g) Beginning on or before July 1, 2021, and on or before July 1 of each year thereafter, the pretrial services agency shall publish on its internet website a report with aggregate demographic data related to outcomes and potential biases in pretrial release. The report shall, at a minimum, compare rates of release prebooking, prehearing, prearraignment, and pretrial, aggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, age, and offense. The report shall also aggregate by race, ethnicity, gender, age, and offense the number of cases in which the detention or release recommendation by the agency conducting the assessment did not conform
with the release or detention decision of the judicial officer. The report published on or before July 1, 2021, shall include at least 12 months of data. The report published on or before July 1, 2022, shall include at least 24 months of data. The report published on or before July 1, 2023, and reports published each year thereafter shall include at least 36 months of data and include changes or trends in pretrial release rates, aggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, age, and offense, and any changes in policy made by the pretrial services agency to mitigate identified biases in outcomes.