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County official credits state attorney’s office changes with reducing jail days, speeding case resolutions
Summary
A Bay County official told the board that recent initiatives by the state attorney’s office — including hiring a county chief assistant, early case resolution at first appearance, delayed arraignments for certain charges and administrative dismissals of old warrants — have reduced jail days and court processing time.
A speaker representing the county’s public-safety coordinating council told the Bay County Board of County Commissioners that new practices in the state attorney’s office have produced substantial reductions in jail days and court-processing burdens.
The presentation said State Attorney Larry Bassford hired Ben Bollinger as county chief assistant state attorney to focus on case resolution. The county’s report cited work by Amanda Brocious in the state attorney’s office that resolved misdemeanor inmate cases between May 1 and Aug. 8, eliminating 3,495 jail days at an estimated $54 per day (totaling $196,728 in avoided jail costs).
The state attorney’s office also began an early-case-resolution practice at first appearance that the report said saves roughly 100 staff hours per week by resolving cases at first appearance and avoiding lengthy court processing. Additionally, arraignments for DUI, BUI, domestic violence, battery and stalking cases were moved out 30 days to allow evidence, victim contacts and charging decisions to be made prior to first appearance; the office reported an average 50% reduction in arraignments for those case types. The office has also petitioned the court to administratively dismiss old cases with outstanding warrants; the report said 2010 matters were completed and dismissed by Judge Dyer and that staff would continue reviewing older cases.
The presenter credited cooperation among the state attorney’s office, public defenders, county jail staff and court partners for the progress and thanked those offices for the changes. No formal board action was recorded on the report; the speaker framed the information as an update from the public-safety coordinating council.
