Committee recommends renewing San Francisco Pretrial Diversion Project contract as analysts validate risk tool

The Sheriff’s Office presented a competitive award to the San Francisco Pretrial Diversion Project to continue pretrial services for an initial three‑year term through June 30, 2024 (with two single‑year extension options) at a not‑to‑exceed level in the range of $18.7M. Sheriff’s CFO Crispin Hollings described the role of pretrial in providing risk information (the Public Safety Assessment or PSA developed by Arnold Ventures) to courts, conducting pre‑arraignment review, and supervising released defendants.

Hollings and BLA staff reviewed appearance and safety metrics and noted the program’s role in reducing the local jail population; appearance and safety rates met national standards though the county is engaged in ongoing validation and continuous improvement work with the California Policy Lab. Hollings said he expects a Policy Lab validation report to the Judicial Council by July 1 and committed to share findings with the committee.

Supervisor questions focused on: whether the validation should be available before renewal; whether reporting should include lifetime (full‑tenure) appearance and safety rates rather than quarterly snapshots; the interaction of electronic monitoring and assertive case management with pretrial supervision; and how the Buffen injunction’s timing requirements (shorter windows for reviews) affected contractor workload. The Sheriff agreed to provide further disaggregated metrics and to consider reporting changes to capture lifetime outcomes. Public commenters included union representatives urging delay until the validation is released, and legal/professional organizations endorsing continued contracting with the nonprofit pretrial provider.

The committee voted 3‑0 to recommend the contract to the Board with a request for expanded reporting and timely sharing of the Policy Lab validation results.