Pretrial release: risk assessment tools.

Existing law, beginning October 1, 2019, and stayed pending voter approval under the powers of referendum pursuant to the California Constitution, requires Pretrial Assessment Services, as defined, to assess a person arrested or detained, as specified, according to a risk assessment instrument, as defined. Existing law requires Pretrial Assessment Services to release from confinement specified individuals based on that risk assessment, and, if the person is not released, to submit that assessment to the court for use in its pretrial release or detention decision. This bill would require each pretrial services agency that uses a pretrial risk assessment tool to validate the tool by January 1, 2021, and on a regular basis thereafter, but no less frequently than once every 3 years, and to make specified information regarding the tool, including validation studies, publicly available. The bill would require the Judicial Council to maintain a list of pretrial services agencies that have satisfied those validation requirements and complied with those transparency requirements. The bill would require the Judicial Council, beginning on December 31, 2020, and on or before December 31 of each year thereafter, to publish a report on its internet website with data related to outcomes and potential biases in pretrial release. The bill would require specified pretrial services agencies, the Department of Justice, courts, and local governments that elect to use risk assessment tools to work with the Judicial Council to provide the data necessary for this report. The bill would also require the Judicial Council, on or before July 1, 2022, to provide a report to the courts and the Legislature containing recommendations to mitigate bias and disparate effect in pretrial decisionmaking.