Judicial Officer Pretrial Justice Orientation

Judicial officers may assume their roles without significant criminal law experience or familiarity with pretrial legal principles, policies, or practices. Even former prosecutors or defense counsel may have received little training about pretrial research and evidence-based practices despite having made or argued against countless bond recommendations. 

This curated list of APPR resources can serve as an orientation to pretrial justice for judicial officers who are new to the bench.  

You can download all the resources below and a Word document of this page by clicking the button above. Add additional resources for your local pretrial system, such as pretrial performance measures, and relevant new pretrial research as it is published. 

For judicial officers, reading this document might help provide context to parts of your pretrial system you may not have considered before, and suggest areas for deeper learning and exploration.  

This series of short handouts go to the core of judicial decision making and provide helpful checklists for judicial officers to compare against current practices.

Before ordering conditions of pretrial release, judicial officers should be familiar with evidence-based practices that help people attend court and remain arrest-free, and set appropriate conditions based on the individual’s likelihood of success. APPR has developed summaries of the current research on some of the most commonly used pretrial release conditions. 

Research shows that the language we use can improve or hinder people’s success during the pretrial phase. The APPR Language Guide can help judicial officers adopt person-first, strength-based language. The Pretrial Glossary can help ensure that system stakeholders share a common understanding of the words and terms used. 

National Association of Pretrial Services Agencies Pretrial Standards Revised 2024 

The National Association of Pretrial Services Agencies has issued professional standards for the pretrial release and diversion fields since 1978.

Contact APPR for help finding additional resources or ask the APPR Community for ideas to assist with internal education of pretrial system stakeholders.