2003-009 - Laserfiche WebLink

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affecting future activities,the booking process,and the impact of specific activities(such as a DUI crackdown) on other elements of the justice system. Staffing levels and policy changes, which may have affected the numbers,will be highlighted.The effectiveness of the booking,arraignment and bond processes ill be reviewed to assess effectiveness and efficiency. Courts: Variations in caseloads and case flow will be assessed and changes in the number of judgeships and other key staff within the Courts Administration will be factored into the assessment. Time to trial and its effect on detention levels will be assessed along with the effects of any innovations such specialty courts. Probation and Diversion Programs: Within the adult Probation Department, special attention will be given to the areas of similarity and to the areas of distinction between adults and juveniles in order to quantify growth characteristics and trends. The review will monitor changes in the usage of the different types of programs, both pre-trial/pre-adjudicated and post-sentence/post- adjudicated to identify trends. Analysis will take account of the timing and reason behind the introduction of the different programs. Review of the intensive supervision programs and other intermediate sanctions will be addressed. Usage rates and success rates will be assessed. Corrections: The Corrections operational analysis will involve a series of meetings and discussions with staff together with a review of any existing forecasts and projections. Admissions, length of stay and releases together with gender and status(adult or juvenile)will be reviewed.An assessment of how Court activity affects the Average Length of Stay in jail (ALOS), State DOC practice, legislative changes, effects of increased or decreased parole violator numbers and the effect on local facility admissions will be made. The effect of mandatory sentencing guidelines will be addressed during this part of the study. Profiles of the ALOS for both pre-trial and for adjudicated offenders will be developed together with breakdowns of the different custody classification levels and the potential impact of mandatory sentencing. Offices of the District Attorney and Public Defender. Not only will caseload information be accumulated and analyzed for these offices of the Court, but through interviews with key staff in both offices, the operational parameters that define mission and process will be defined. The effectiveness and efficiency of caseload management is largely influenced by the behavior of the prosecution and defense. Therefore, every attempt will be made to define resource and/or .procedural problems that contribute to delays in case processing. Both Florida AOC and the American Bar Association guidelines on time for case disposition will be used to assess the performance of the Court, to include the prosecution and defense. The data thus collated will be analyzed initially by division to identify specific areas of critical activity and then as a whole to provide an overview of the manner in which the system has grown and how the emphasis may have shifted due to extraneous circumstances. Responsibilities for different aspects and programs or services will be investigated to identify any potential inefficiencies or duplications. Rates of growth will be documented for each separate division within the criminal justice system so that the information may be used for more targeted departmental investigation or analysis as necessary. Subtask 2.2 Assess Component Effectiveness and Efficiency An ancillary part of the System Analysis will involve a more detailed look at the programs and services available within the system in an effort to quantify their usage and examine their efficiency. Criminal justice policy will be reviewed to understand the evolution to today's situation and what attempts have been made to reduce case processing time, reduce jail admissions and length of stay, or the use of incarceration versus local sanctions and supervision. The"intent"of legislation and policy will be compared to the implementation results as evidenced by available documents and historic data.