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New research published last year found that pretrial detention contributes to new arrests, is punitive, and causes harm. Other studies found people detained for weeks or months only to have their cases dismissed; and the funding and labor force imbalances between prosecution and defense.
These are a few of the findings in Advancing Pretrial Policy and Research (APPR) annual curated list of Pretrial Research Highlights in 2025. The report covers 20 studies (including three published in late 2024). It outlines the data and methodology, with a summary of the analyses and findings.
Significant in this year’s summary are studies focused on jail and pretrial detention. Researchers explored the harms of pretrial detention, its criminogenic and punitive effects, the effect of race, gender, and poverty on length of pretrial jail stays, and deaths in jail by race, sex and age, and the high rate of people detained through a preventive detention process whose charges were later dropped.
“We do this research summary because it is important for pretrial practitioners—judges, lawyers, and law enforcement. But it’s also important that policymakers and community members understand how pretrial systems work so we can design systems that work better,” said Matt Alsdorf, associate director at the Center for Effective Public Policy, which leads the APPR initiative.
Key Research
Locked Up and Awaiting Trial: Testing the Criminogenic and Punitive Effects of Spending a Week or More in Pretrial Detention
The authors found that unnecessary pretrial detention can be counterproductive to community safety, because it increases the odds a person will be arrested again in the future. They also found it had a punitive effect by increasing the odds of conviction.
Bernalillo County Second Judicial District Court Preventive Detention Motion Review
In New Mexico, judges granted 60 percent of pretrial detention motions brought by prosecutors. In these cases, 43 percent of people eventually had their cases dismissed or declined prosecution. In 37 percent of cases where detention motions were granted, prosecutors dismissed or dropped charges only after the accused person was detained for a median of 120 days.
“This is a significant number of people released after spending months or weeks in jail,” said Alsdorf. “The number of case dismissals after significant time in pretrial detention is an important area for more study.
The Role of Race, Gender, and Poverty on Length of Pretrial Jail Stays: A Multi-Site Analysis
This study looked at two metropolitan areas and found that Black men are the most likely have longer jail stays before trial than white individuals, and that the length of pretrial detention is significantly associated with an increased risk of conviction and incarceration (this last point is also confirmed in the first study listed here, Locked Up and Awaiting Trial.)
The Distribution of Carceral Harm: County-Level Jail Incarceration and Mortality by Race, Sex, and Age
Increases in jail death rates peak among people in late adulthood, ages 50-64, across all race and sex groups. But Black men aged 65 and older fare dramatically worse than their white male and female counterparts.
“This latest round of research confirms that unnecessary pretrial detention ends up contributing to a cycle of crime, and it causes real harm to people who are presumed innocent. We know detention results in lost jobs, housing, and worsening mental health and substance use issues, all factors that may have contributed to people’s contact with law enforcement in the first place. By understanding the research, we can build systems that make more careful and informed decisions about who needs to be detained pretrial and who we can connect to services, like mental health care, housing, and substance use treatment in settings that actually work,” Alsdorf said.
About APPR
APPR is led by the Center for Effective Public Policy with support from Arnold Ventures.
About APPR’s Research Highlights
APPR conducted research using publicly available information to identify relevant pretrial research published in the last year. It is possible the search did not identify every relevant research. Researchers and pretrial practitioners are encouraged to contact APPR with published research not included in our annual research highlights.
