SB20-161 Summary

• Requires each judicial district to implement a pretrial release assessment process that assesses arrested persons within 24 hours of detention facility admission and allows immediate release on unsecured personal recognizance bonds without monetary conditions for certain individuals.

• Establishes a presumption that persons will be released without monetary conditions unless the court finds substantial risk of danger, flight, or obstruction of justice, with no nonmonetary conditions available to mitigate those risks.

• Directs the Division of Criminal Justice to develop statewide standards for pretrial assessment, approve pretrial risk assessment instruments, and evaluate bond-setting outcomes for bias based on race, ethnicity, and gender by October 1, 2022, and annually thereafter.

• Mandates all counties develop pretrial services programs by April 1, 2021, and creates a pretrial services fund to provide counties with financial assistance for assessment and supervision services.

• Requires a preference for summons over arrest for lower-level offenses and misdemeanors unless specific risk factors exist, and prohibits monetary bond conditions for traffic, petty, and comparable municipal offenses.