Washington State Pretrial Incarceration Costs Exceed Cost Of Community-Based Monitoring

The cost of pretrial incarceration in Washington State exceeds the cost of releasing offenders to the community with electronic monitoring and reminders, and providing them with behavioral health treatment. If the state's communities were to release offenders who could not pay cash bail to community-based pretrial services, annual savings would total between $6 million and $12 million. This assumes approximately 4,700 people held in Washington jails who are eligible for pretrial services on any given day.

These findings were reported in “Reforming Bail Practices In Washington” by the Office of the Washington State Auditor, Pat McCarthy. In . . .