Montgomery County, Alabama

Values

• Compassion: A system that has compassion for victims, for defendants, and for the concerns and values of the community.
• Transparency and clarity: A written, structured process that can be understood by affected individuals and members of the public.
• Efficiency: A process that balances the necessity of speedy decisions with deliberate consideration of risks and mitigating factors.
• Liberty: Pretrial liberty is the norm and incarceration is the exception.

A Foundation for Change

Advancing Pretrial Policy and Research (APPR) helped Montgomery County build a solid foundation for systemic change with an unprecedented inclusive policy team, which named itself Pretrial Alliance Montgomery (PAM). Led by Presiding Circuit Judge Johnny Hardwick, the group includes judges, the chief public defender, law enforcement, community corrections, community members, representatives from social service providers, clergy, and social justice nonprofits. Since its kickoff in July 2019, the policy team has evolved into a dynamic collaboration that has attracted many community members and policymakers.

Working Toward Solutions

Each Research-Action Site studies its system as a whole and examines current practices. Then the policy team discusses areas for advancement. Recognizing that there is no single solution, system stakeholders, community groups, and community members identified the most significant change to focus their time and resources.

Validation and Implementation of the PSA

Judges in Montgomery County express a strong interest in understanding how a validated pretrial assessment can inform decisions about pretrial supervision. One benefit of being a Research-Action Site was a historical validation of the PSA using local data to test how the PSA predicts pretrial outcomes, including how it predicts for race and gender. However, data challenges resulted in a validation that was inconclusive.

APPR is working with local stakeholders to determine if other data sources would allow stakeholders to use the PSA, collect data, and conduct a validation in the future.

Expanding Pretrial Supervision and Supportive Services

Local data and the system mapping process revealed that Montgomery County uses its limited public resources to supervise people who are very likely to succeed on their own. Currently, a small number of people released on recognizance—people who do not pose a significant risk to community safety—are supervised. At the same time, those who can afford to pay a standard financial bond are released without supervision, regardless of the risk they may pose to the community.

As a result of studying their system and the research on effective pretrial monitoring, PAM is prioritizing pretrial supervision and supportive services for those who need more assistance appearing in court and remaining law-abiding pretrial, rather than for those most likely to succeed.

Childcare and Transportation Assistance

With the help of a local church, the public transit authority, and a grant from the Southern Poverty Law Center, PAM is exploring the provision of childcare and bus passes to help people attend their court hearings.

Pretrial Supervision Pilot

Legislation signed in 2023 authorized the State Pardon and Parole Department’s field office in Montgomery County to pilot pretrial supervision for people charged with specific violent offenses. In addition, the county expanded pretrial services for people facing charges beyond what the state will supervise.

Racial Disparities

The W. Haywood Burns Institute (BI), an APPR project partner, conducted a racial and ethnic disparities study for Montgomery County. Its analysis confirmed that Black people are disproportionately represented in jail bookings: they are three times more likely than white people to be booked into jail and given a higher financial bond. Public order offenses made up the bulk of the bookings, and Black individuals who were unable to post bond stayed in jail for an average of 19 days.

This study has helped PAM focus on expanding pretrial release options, including implementing administrative orders pertaining to pretrial release and court appearance, and the use of citations instead of custodial arrest.

Administrative Orders: Pretrial Detention and Court Appearance

Among PAM’s most significant policy efforts are administrative orders related to pretrial detention and court appearance. Data show that many people detained until an initial appearance are charged with low-level nonviolent and traffic-related offenses who cannot afford to post a secured financial bond. The orders provided for the safe and efficient release of people charged with nonviolent offenses. This is important because when people are detained unnecessarily, it increases the likelihood of a new arrest in the future. However, the Alabama Supreme Court stayed the orders. Two draft orders were sent to the Alabama  Administrative Office of the Courts for feedback after the court issued the first stay. Even though they were unsigned draft orders, the court did not provide feedback and issued another stay of the unsigned orders.

Improving Court Appearances

PAM prioritized improving court appearance rates after reviewing empirical research and studying best practices recommended by professional organizations, including the American Bar Association and the National Association of Pretrial Services Agencies.

In Alabama, the AOC provides limited, mailed letters to people about their court dates. PAM is seeking to expand to provide text and phone reminders. All district judges in Montgomery County are working with ideas 42, a nonprofit that helps courts make communications clear and actionable so they contribute to improved pretrial outcomes.

Citations Instead of Jail

Judge Hardwick, the county sheriff, the deputy police chief, and a nonprofit representative studied county jail data and developed a list of certain misdemeanor charges eligible for a citation instead of a custodial arrest. However, the Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure and Code of Alabama constrained their ability to implement the proposal. Due to these limitations, an independent group comprised of the Circuit Court Clerk’s Office, sheriff, and police department will meet to discuss the use of citations.

Public Education

PAM has worked to increase public understanding by creating a public website, pretrialmontgomery.org, and a Facebook page. It has held press conferences, and Judge Hardwick has conducted several interviews with local media. In 2023, PAM hosted two Community Listening Sessions to hear the public’s ideas, concerns, and perceptions about their pretrial system. Insights from Community Members summarizes the feedback from community members.

Policy Team

• 15th Judicial Circuit (lead agency)
• Aid to Inmate Mothers
• Alabama Appleseed Center for Law & Justice
• Alabama Forward
• Alabama Office of Indigent Defense
• Alabama State Senate
• Alabama State University
• Auburn University Montgomery
• Community Members
• Equal Justice Initiative
• Law Office of Emmett Hampton
• Metropolitan United Methodist Church
• Montgomery Bail Out
• Montgomery County Community Corrections
• Montgomery County District Court
• Montgomery County Police Department
• Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office
• Montgomery Pride United
• Southern Poverty Law Center