PRETRIAL SERVICES ADVISORY COMMITTEE-IPCSA

OCTOBER 18, 2006 MEETING MINUTES

IPCSA FALL CONFERENCE—PEORIA, IL

Present: Marty Offutt-Gruber (Kane), Tanya Whitehead (Kane), Mark Fellenzer (Rock Island), Rich Ludolph (AOIC), Gregg Anderson (AOIC), Cheryl Shearer (Lake), Anita Maxey (Macon), Keith Cooprider (Lake).

-  Minutes from the August 25, 2006 Committee Meeting (ISU) were read and approved. 

-  Keith surveyed those present their department’s policy regarding bond report confidentiality, specifically, defendant information obtained during the course of a pretrial investigation.  Tanya and Marty reported that Kane County bond reports are “sealed” with no public access.  Anita reported that Macon County bond reports are not sealed and that defendant information presented in open court becomes part of the public record.  Lake County follows a similar procedure as Macon; the court’s copy of the bond report goes into the Circuit Clerk’s file (i.e., the Court’s file) and becomes part of the public record.  Mark advised that in Rock Island County defendant information acquired during the pretrial investigation is not disseminated in court; the only thing presented to the court is an oral bond recommendation.  [Note: The Illinois Pretrial Services Act mandates that any defendant information not disclosed in “open court” is confidential information and “shall not be released” by pretrial services; NAPSA Standards recommend that—with some limited exceptions—bond report information should remain confidential.]

-  General discussion on risk assessment issues.  Keith handed out a copy of the Lake County Pretrial Risk Assessment Instrument with a strong advisory towards training in its proper use by a qualified trainer before implementation.  The use of an objective risk instrument is supported by the Evidence Based Practice (EBP) initiative.  The need for risk assessment training—how, who, when, what—was also addressed.  To be continued.

-  The first statewide pretrial services survey has been completed.  Rich and Greg Anderson of AOIC provided a Powerpoint presentation of the compiled survey data and provided hard copies of the survey results as well as copies of the Pretrial Services Directory to Committee members.  The survey provides a statistical picture of current pretrial operations and programs in Illinois; the Directory provides a detailed list of programs, services, and contacts and was put together to foster communication and networking among pretrial practitioners.  Directories and survey results will be sent to the 28 counties that responded to the survey.  It was suggested that if a second survey is done that some of the questions be “tweaked” for clarity and unambiguous understanding.  The Committee will be examining the survey results in more detail at a later date.  The Committee will be looking into possibly putting the Directory onto the IPCSA website.  Much kudos to Rich Ludolph for all his hard work, the Powerpoint presentation, and the excellent publications of the written survey results and the Pretrial Directory. 

-  Posting the Mission Statement for Pretrial Services Programs in Illinois onto the IPCSA website will be looked into.

       - Volume 1 #1 of the Pretrial Services Newsletter is completed!  Many thanks to Tanya and Marty of Kane County for all their time and effort put into this project. The periodical will address matters of interest among pretrial practitioners, including training issues, Pretrial Committee projects, program descriptions, and current pretrial-related topics on the national agenda, such as certification and the application of Evidence-Based Practices (EBP) at the pretrial stage.