Dane County  
Minutes - Final Unless Amended by  
Committee  
Criminal Justice Council - Pre-Trial Services Subcommittee  
Consider:  
Who benefits? Who is burdened?  
Who does not have a voice at the table?  
How can policymakers mitigate unintended consequences?  
Wednesday, September 29, 2021  
12:15 PM  
Virtual Zoom Meeting: See top of agenda for  
instructions on how to join the webinar or call in by  
phone.  
A. Call To Order  
Staff Present: Isabel Anadon and Sarah Jensen  
The meeting was called to order by Chair McNamara at 12:16 pm.  
Enger joined at 12:25 pm  
Dorl left at 1:15 pm  
7 -  
Present  
COLLEEN CLARK-BERNHARDT, CATHERINE DORL, TROY ENGER, CARLO  
ESQUEDA, JEFF KOSTELIC, NICK MCNAMARA, and ISMAEL OZANNE  
1 - KERRY PORTER  
Excused  
B. Consideration of Minutes  
1. 2021  
MIN-212  
MINUTES OF THE JUNE 16, 2021 CRIMINAL JUSTICE COUNCIL -  
PRE-TRIAL SERVICE SUBCOMMITTEE  
Attachments: 2021 MIN-212  
A motion was made by KOSTELIC, seconded by OZANNE, that the minutes be  
approved. The motion carried by a voice vote.  
C. Action Items  
D. Presentations  
None  
1. Potential Dashboards for Pretrial Data  
Presented by Anadon  
Reviewed different metrics that could be reported in the dashboards. Discussion of  
financial conditions of release, reporting of Public Safety Assessments (PSA),  
performance metrics, baseline measures, such as court appearance rate, release rate,  
and public safety rate (reflecting the number of people who are and are not arrested on  
new charges while on pretrial release). Emphasis on changing from a decision-making  
framework (DMF) to a release conditions matrix (RCM) to reflect goals of pretrial release.  
Discussion of performance measures to evaluate process rather than sharing the  
numbers and statistics without context.  
Discussion ensued regarding distinction between the actual assessment of a signature  
bond by the court commissioner compared to the PSA recommendation of a signature  
bond. Discussion about the number of charges versus people who are in the jail with  
holds. Discussion of meaningful performance measures that can move towards policy.  
Distinction between actuarial data compared to an actuarial assessment in regard to  
predicting someone’s failure to appear. Discussion of defining a non-appearance, and  
whether that is measured at the individual person or charge level.  
PSA DATA VISUALIZATIONS  
2021  
PRES-159  
Attachments: 2021 PRES-159  
2. Extension of PSA Study  
Presented by Clark-Bernhardt and Esqueda  
PSA Assessors are in the 2022 budget. The Access to Justice Lab (A2J) is interested in  
doing a study within the existing PSA project regarding probable cause statements. This  
would require transcripts of a lot of initial appearance proceedings. Transcripts will be the  
challenging piece, but these are public records.  
3. MDRC Update  
Presented by Clark-Bernhardt  
MDRC is in the process of completing a dosage study to determine how much pretrial  
services supervision is appropriate for different people on pretrial release. This process  
has slowed slightly with staffing changes but is ongoing.  
4. Advancing Pretrial Policy and Research (APPR): Next Steps and Timeline for  
Technical Assistance  
Presented by Clark-Bernhardt  
APPR emphasizes the need to move from a decision-making framework (DMF) to a  
release condition matrix (RCM) to reflect the goals of pretrial release. This shifts the  
focus and perspective of pretrial justice and creates a more equitable system. There is a  
technical assistance program that would be beneficial, but it would be resource-intensive  
on pretrial services to apply. The CJC-PT would need to include motion language on a  
future meeting agenda to move this forward.  
5. Historic Trends of Pretrial Supervision Since its Creation  
Esqueda provided an overview of the history of pretrial supervision from its inception to  
today. See attached timeline.  
Discussion ensued regarding cost of creating a new Pre-Trial Services Department.  
PRE-TRIAL SERVICES TIMELINE  
2021  
RPT-669  
Attachments: 2021 RPT-669  
E. Reports to Committee  
None  
F. Future Meeting Items and Dates  
In 2022, the CJC-PT will aim to meet alternating months. The 2022 calendar will be  
discussed further in the upcoming CJC-PT meeting.  
Next meeting: December 1st at 12:15pm.  
G. Public Comment on Items not on the Agenda  
Erika Bach – Registered, but not present at the meeting to provide public comment.  
H. Such Other Business as Allowed by Law  
None  
I. Adjourn  
A motion was made by OZANNE, seconded by CLARK-BERNHARDT, that the  
meeting be adjourned. The motion carried unanimously.  
The meeting adjourned at 1:25 pm.  
Minutes respectfully submitted by Sarah Jensen, pending subcommittee approval.