Administrative Delays in the Bail Process Should be Reduced

In 2019, it is simply unacceptable that persons are detained in jail one second longer than they need to be because it takes time to administratively process them and a couple extra hours in jail is seen as no big deal. For example, in one large urban jail, the quickest someone could get out of jail is typically no less than 24 hours because of processing time. In one major urban jail, a defendant was lost by the jail and spent 30 additional hours in jail after his bond was posted. System-wide, administrative delays must be reduced. The right to bail is hampered by systematic delays that must be reduced.

All persons in the modern era should be releasable within a matter of hours if not minutes when they have posted bail. State and local governments should pursue technology solutions to reduce the time needed to process someone into jail and process them out in order to reduce unnecessary predisposition incarceration.