CUYAHOGA COUNTY – Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish, City of Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, Cleveland Municipal Court Administrative and Presiding Judge Ronald B. Adrine, along with other city and county leaders, applauded the formal announcement of a partnership with the Laura and John Arnold Foundation (LJAF) to implement an evidence-based pre-trial risk assessment tool.

“For us to thrive, everyone should have equal access to justice and equal and fair treatment under the law,” said Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish. “The new tool from the Arnold Foundation gives judges more reliable information to make difficult decisions around bail. I applaud the efforts of Judge Ronald B. Adrine for championing this innovative program”

The Pre-Trial Risk Assessment Tool helps judges decide which defendants pose a risk to public safety and should be detained prior to trial, and which defendants can be safely released. The tool uses a formula to identify factors that are the best predictors of whether a defendant will commit a new crime or fail to return to court. Some of these factors include:

• Whether the current offense is violent or the person has a prior conviction for a violent crime
• Whether the person has a pending charge at the time of arrest
• Whether the person has a prior misdemeanor/felony conviction
• The age of the person at the time of arrest
• Whether the person has previously been sentenced to incarceration
• Whether the person failed to appear at a pretrial hearing (in the last two years or more than two years ago)

The Pre-Trial Risk Assessment Tool does NOT consider discriminatory factors such as:

• Race
• Gender
• Level of education
• Socioeconomic status
• Neighborhood

“Municipal judges play such an important role in protecting the rights of individuals and protecting the safety of the community. This promising tool should greatly assist judges in making these critically important decisions.” said Cuyahoga County Law Director Robert Triozzi.

For additional information on the Laura and John Arnold Foundation Pre-Trial Risk Assessment Tool, please visit: http://www.arnoldfoundation.org/initiative/criminal-justice/crime-prevention/public-safety-assessment/.