Pre-Trial Releases at Seattle Municipal Court
When a defendant is booked into jail on a violation of the Seattle Municipal Code, there
are several paths for release from jail during the pre-trial phase. After booking and up to
the defendant’s first arraignment hearing, there are two points at which these options
occur: at a screening with the Seattle Municipal Court’s (SMC) personal recognizance
(PR) screeners (typically conducted a few hours after booking) and at the first
appearance before a judicial officer, which generally occurs within 24-48 hours of arrest.
Pre-trial release decisions are based on two main factors: 1) the impact of public safety
if the defendant is released and 2) the likelihood that the defendant will appear at
future hearings. The information used to inform these decisions is a mixture of history
with the criminal justice system, ties to the community (what the defendant has to
“lose” by committing another crime and/or having a warrant out for their arrest for
failing to appear), and the mental health of the defendant 1.

PR Screener Phase
PR Screeners are employees of the SMC Probation Division and are not judicial officers.
The release options available to a screener and/or defendant at PR screening are:
•

•

Release on personal recognizance. If certain criteria are met, such as a lowerlevel charge, little or no criminal history, little or no history of failing to appear at
court hearings, and ties to the community, then the screener may release the
defendant on their own recognizance, since there is a high likelihood they will
return for their next court date.
Deny release on personal recognizance. If the defendant meets some criteria
outlined for possible release on PR, but not others, the screener may deny
release, since there is some concern for public safety and/or risk of failing to
appear at a future court hearing. The information that the PR screener collects

1

Mental health in of itself is not a factor, but rather whether the defendant is likely to harm themselves
or others due to illness. In addition, many defendants suspected of having mental health issues undergo
an assessment to determine if they are competent to stand trial. In some cases, the defendant may
undergo involuntary commitment proceedings in Superior Court.

Seattle Justice Center, 600 5th Avenue, P.O. Box 34987, Seattle, WA 98124-4987
TTY (Hearing & Speech Impaired) 684-5210
www.seattle.gov/courts
Printed on Recycled Paper

 •

•

on the defendant in this case will be passed on to the judge at the first
arraignment hearing for consideration of release by a judicial officer.
Hold defendant for arraignment. In some cases, the screener cannot release on
PR, since the defendant does not meet strict criteria for release by a screener. An
example of this is domestic violence charges, where a screener, per SMC policy,
cannot release a defendant on PR. In other cases, it is a combination of charges
and criminal history that would prohibit release by the Screener. The
information that the PR screener collects on the defendant in this case will be
passed on to the judge at the first arraignment hearing for consideration of
release by a judicial officer.
Default bail posted. Most criminal charges have bail amounts predetermined by
charge type. Some criminal charge types, like domestic violence assault, have no
predetermined bail amounts. For those charges that have a bail amount set, a
defendant can be released by posting the bail amount before the arraignment
hearing and have an out-of-custody arraignment hearing. This can happen at any
point before the first arraignment.

Attachment 1 shows the SMC release guidelines for the PR Screeners. These guidelines
are reviewed regularly and are currently undergoing a 2015 review, so the criteria
contained here is subject to change.

Arraignment Hearing
The next point at which release is considered is the first arraignment hearing.
Arraignment hearings are the first court hearings in front of a judicial officer with the
prosecutor present and the defense attorney (many of which are court-appointed public
defenders for those that cannot afford an attorney). The release options available to a
judge and/or defendant not released in the PR screening stage are:
•

Bail posted. The defendant can be released by posting bail themselves or work
with a bail bond agency to pay the amount of the bond that will be returned
upon the end of the pre-trial phase, if they appear at all hearings. Those using a
bail bond agency will also be charged a fee for their services by the agency. The
prosecutor may ask for an increase in bail above the default amount – the judge
may agree and set a higher bail if they see a public safety risk and/or a risk that

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 •

•

•

•

•

•

the defendant may not appear at future court dates. Occasionally, a judge will
order bail in addition to Day Reporting or electronic home monitoring.
Release on personal recognizance. The judge may release a defendant on PR if
they feel there is little risk to public safety and the likelihood that the defendant
will appear at future court hearings is high.
Release to Day Reporting. The Day Reporting program is designed to provide a
non-confinement alternative to defendants that would normally be released on
PR or post bail if it were not for financial circumstances and/or lack of ties to the
community that prevent them from those type of releases. A defendant on Day
Reporting must report as directed to the court and check in with a Probation
employee during the course of their pre-trial phase. If a defendant is in need of
human services, such as housing, treatment, financial assistance, etc., they are
referred to the Court Resource Center, which houses a variety human service
providers and referral services.
Release to Electronic Home Monitoring program. The Court contracts with a
vendor to provide electronic home monitoring (EHM) for defendants.
Defendants have to pay the costs associated with this service. In order to enter
the EHM program, defendants must have a stable home and access to a
telephone.
Case resolved at arraignment. Some cases are resolved at arraignment, typically
through a negotiated plea between the prosecutor and the defendant. In some
of those cases, the defendant may stay in jail, but as a post-trial sentence.
Conditions of release signed. In some cases, the defendant is released after
agreeing to conditions of release imposed by the Court which do not include any
of the other options listed here. Often these cases are associated with a specialty
court such as Mental Health Court or Veteran’s Treatment Court.
No charges filed. At SMC, those who are booked have a case created by the
Court. It is not unusual for the prosecutor to decline to file the case after review.
The court uses resources in creating the case and dealing with the results of the
filing decision at arraignment, so they are included in the numbers of cases.
These cases may result in the defendant being released prior to arraignment,
depending on when the court and jail are notified of the decision.

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 Chart 1 shows the pre-trial release actions outlined above in a high-level flow chart.
Please note that there are the exceptional cases that do not fit exactly into the pre-trial
actions that are outlined in this analysis.
Chart 1: High-Level Flowchart of Pre-Trial Release Actions

Defendant booked on new charge

Defendant interviewed by Personal
Recognizance (PR) Screener

Released on
Personal
Recognizance

Posts (pays) default
bail

Denied release on
Personal
Recognizance

Held for
arraignment (not
eligible for PR at this
stage)

Defendant appears at arraignment
hearing

Posts (pays)
bail

Released on
personal
recognizance

Released to
Day Reporting
program

Released to
Electronic
Home
Monitoring
program

Case resolved
(may remain in
jail on
sentence)

No charges
filed

Placed on
specialty court
conditions fo
release

Unable to post
bail

Pre-trial hearing (except for cases resolved at arraignment or cases that did not have charges filed)

Release Decisions
It is worth noting that pre-trial release decisions are predicated on protecting public
safety, the safety of the defendant themselves, and ensuring that a defendant appears
at future court dates. Trying to predict future behavior is a very difficult task.
Judicial officers have no choice but to use past behavior and current accusations of
criminal behavior as an indicator of future behavior. In addition, Washington Court Rule
3.2 directs judges to take “the accused's employment status and history, enrollment in
an educational institution or training program, participation in a counseling or
treatment program, performance of volunteer work in the community, participation in
school or cultural activities or receipt of financial assistance from the government; the
accused's family ties and relationships; the accused's reputation, character and mental
condition; [and] the length of the accused's residence in the community;…” into account
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 as relevant factors when determining pre-trial release. Just looking at release decisions
without context around past behavior and current life circumstances would provide an
incomplete picture of why judges make the decisions they do around pre-trial release.
Methodology
The release actions outlined above are not ones that lend themselves to a quick and
easy analysis of data. In order to get data and provide context, the Court’s Research,
Planning, and Evaluation Group (RPEG) pulled a random sample of booked cases in
2014. The booked cases were only those that were booked at the point of the initial
charge. For this study, 352 cases (8.5% of the total booked population) were chosen at
random out of the 4,148 booked cases, giving the percentages used in the analysis
roughly a 5% margin of error if the percentages were to be applied to the 2014 booked
cases as a whole.
Table 1: Number and Percentage of Total Booked Population 2
Number
Booked
Non-DV/DUI
DUI
DV
Grand Total

% of
Booked
56%

2,332
308

7%

1,508

36%

4,148

100%

Table 2: Number and Percentage of Booked Population Sample
Number in
Booked
Sample
Non-DV/DUI

% in
Booked
Sample

201

57%

26

7%

DV

125

36%

Grand Total

352

100%

DUI

The pre-trial release decisions were only checked at the first point at which a defendant
on a case was booked. Many cases see defendants fail to appear at pre-trial hearings,
which subsequently results in a warrant being issued for the defendant’s arrest. When/if
the warrant is served in the case of a failure to appear at a court hearing, it is highly
likely that any subsequent pre-trial release option will be more restrictive than the first
option – since concern about failing to appear at hearings is a paramount factor in
2

Totals may not sum to 100% due to rounding.
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 releases from jail. Proven failure to appear at a court hearing typically results in higher
bail being set, less reliance on PR, etc.
Information on a defendant’s criminal history, failure to appear history, and financial
status was collected from SMC’s PR Screening application. These screenings are done
immediately after booking - some of the defendants are uncooperative or hostile, so
information on personal aspects (financial) can be suspect. The information given to the
Screeners by defendants is verified by a reference, when possible, but even then might
not fully reflect actual circumstances. Documentation to verify financial and other
personal information is typically non-existent.

Custody Status and Arraignment
It is worth noting that in Seattle, a large number of misdemeanor defendants are never
booked into jail, but receive a summons to appear at an out-of-custody arraignment. As
Table 3 shows below, half of misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor criminal cases in
Seattle involve defendants that are never booked into jail.
Table 3: Percentage of Cases that are Booked in Jail at Case Creation
Booked into Jail at Case Creation

50.3%

Out-of-Custody at Case Creation

49.7%

This analysis will only focus on the 50.3% of defendants that are booked into jail at case
creation. The other 49.7% of cases (approximately 4,100 cases) were not booked into
jail by the Seattle Police Department at the point their case was created.

PR Screening
The Personal Recognizance Screeners are employees of the SMC Probation Division.
While the PR Screeners are able to release some defendants, their discretion and
latitude on release decisions is extremely narrow or non-existent, depending on the
charge, criminal history, and other factors. Attachment 1 shows the guidelines used by
the PR Screeners.
Table 4 and 5 below show the releases done at the PR Screen stage. For this analysis,
those cases that were denied PR or held for arraignment due to non-PR-eligible charges
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 were grouped together into a “not released” category. Cases that had no PR Screener
information were listed as held in-custody (not released), since the PR Screener did not
make a release decision.

Table 4: Releases from Jail at the PR Screening Stage
Not Released

89%
8%

Default Bail Posted
Released on Personal Recognizance

3%

Table 5: Releases from Jail at the PR Screening Stage, by Case Category
Non-DV/DUI

Not Released

87%
8%

Default Bail Posted
Released on Personal Recognizance
DUI

5%

Not Released

65%
31%

Default Bail Posted
Released on Personal Recognizance
DV

4%

Not Released
Default Bail Posted

97%
3%

As evidenced in Table 5, the large majority of all cases, especially domestic violence
cases, were held in custody prior to arraignment.

First Arraignment Hearing
The first arraignment hearing is an in-custody defendant’s first hearing before a judge.
First arraignment hearings occur within 48 hours of booking (WCrRLJ 3.2.1). One of the
items the judge addresses at this hearing is a possible release. Tables 6 and 7 show the
breakdown, by case type, of release actions at the first arraignment hearing. Please note
that a defendant may be released at a subsequent hearing during the pre-trial phase.
For this analysis, only releases at the first arraignment were recorded. All of the data
below excludes those that were released at the PR screening phase. Please also note
that some defendants in the “No Bail Posted” category may have not been released due
to warrants in other courts, including felony charges.

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 Table 6: Releases from Jail at First Arraignment Hearing
No Bail Posted

31%

Bail Posted

8%
30%

No Charges Filed
11%

Day Reporting/EHM/Specialty Court
Released on Personal Recognizance
Case Resolved at Arraignment

18%
3%

Table 7: Releases from Jail at First Arraignment Hearing, by Case Category
Non-DV/DUI

No Bail Posted
Bail Posted

38%
2%
27%

No Charges Filed
11%

Day Reporting/EHM/Specialty Court

17%

Released on Personal Recognizance
Case Resolved at Arraignment
DUI

5%
41%

No Bail Posted
Bail Posted

29%
18%

No Charges Filed

DV

Day Reporting/EHM/Specialty Court

6%

Released on Personal Recognizance

6%

No Bail Posted

19%
14%

Bail Posted

34%

No Charges Filed
Day Reporting/EHM/Specialty Court
Released on Personal Recognizance

11%
21%

Defendant History and Status
A judge deciding on a motion to increase bail typically factors in a variety of different
information sources in order to estimate future risk to public safety and the likelihood
that the defendant will appear at the next court date. Table 8 shows the average bail
amount for each type of release – some of the bail amounts were adjusted by the judge,
while some remained at the default level of $500 for a misdemeanor and $1,000 for a
gross misdemeanor, per charge 3.

3

Some examples of misdemeanors include indecent exposure, criminal trespass, pedestrian interference,
or prostitution/sexual exploitation. Examples of gross misdemeanors include carrying a concealed
weapon, receiving stolen property, theft, reckless endangerment, or harassment.
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 Table 8: Average Amount of Bail at Arraignment by Release Action and Case Type
Non-DV/DUI

Bail Posted

$8,375

No Bail Posted
No Charges Filed
Day Reporting/EHM/Specialty Court
Released on Personal Recognizance
Case Resolved at Arraignment
DUI

$4,894
$2,188
$1,974
$1,467
$1,188

No Bail Posted

$34,286

Bail Posted

$12,000
$3,500

Day Reporting/EHM/Specialty Court
No Charges Filed
Released on Personal Recognizance
DV

$1,833
$1,000

No Bail Posted

$9,283
$5,429

Day Reporting/EHM/Specialty Court
Bail Posted
Released on Personal Recognizance
No Charges Filed

$3,882
$1,788
$1,024

Table 9 shows the percentage of defendants with previous bookings in the King County
Jail as for each release type, broken out by case type. For this analysis, cases with
incomplete data from the PR Screener were excluded.
Table 9: Previous Cases with King County Jail Booking
Non-DV/DUI

No Bail Posted

85%

No Charges Filed
Bail Posted

75%

25%

Released on Personal Recognizance

74%

26%
11%

89%

Day Reporting/EHM/Specialty Court
75%

Case Resolved at Arraignment
DUI

15%
22%

78%

No Bail Posted

25%
14%

86%

100%

No Charges Filed
Bail Posted

50%

50%

Released on Personal Recognizance

100%
100%

Day Reporting/EHM/Specialty Court
DV

No Bail Posted

Bail Posted

Day Reporting/EHM/Specialty Court

54%

46%

No Charges Filed

Released on Personal Recognizance

22%

78%

65%

35%
77%

23%
75%

25%

No Previous Bookings
Previous Bookings

Another key piece of information that judges take into account for decisions on release
and bail is the number of warrants a defendant has had in the past two years. Warrants
are typically issued for failing to appear at a court hearing. Table 10 shows the average
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September 8, 2015
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 number of warrants issued for defendants over the previous 24 months from the date of
the initial PR screening.
Table 10: Average Number of Warrants Issued to Defendants in Past 24 Months
Non-DV/DUI

4.7

Day Reporting/EHM/Specialty Court
No Bail Posted

3.4
2.3

No Charges Filed
1.3

Case Resolved at Arraignment
1.0

Released on Personal Recognizance
Bail Posted
DUI

0.3
2.0

Day Reporting/EHM/Specialty Court
1.4

No Bail Posted
0.5

No Charges Filed

DV

Bail Posted

0.0

Released on Personal Recognizance

0.0
2.5

No Bail Posted
1.9

Bail Posted
0.4

No Charges Filed
Released on Personal Recognizance

0.4
0.0

Day Reporting/EHM/Specialty Court

Another item taken under consideration for release is the mental health of defendants.
For some defendants, mental illness may create concerns for public safety and/or the
well-being of the defendant. Some defendants are scheduled for competency hearings,
often at arraignment, to determine if they are competent to stand trial. Table 11 shows
the percentage of defendants within each case category that had mental health and/or
competency hearings by release action.
Table 11: Percentage of Defendants with MHC/Competency Hearing
Non-DV/DUI

No Bail Posted

69%
12%

Released on Personal Recognizance

12%

Day Reporting/EHM/Specialty Court
Bail Posted

2%

No Charges Filed

2%

Case Resolved at Arraignment

2%

DUI

Day Reporting/EHM/Specialty Court

DV

No Bail Posted

100%
50%

Bail Posted
No Charges Filed

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33%
17%

 Defendant Income and Housing
One concern that is commonly expressed around bail is that it penalizes those that
cannot afford to post bail by keeping them in jail. It is worth noting that judges do have
information on defendant employment and income that is captured during the PR
screening process when eligibility for a public defender is determined. As mentioned
earlier, bail is a tool that is used to help insure that defendants appear at future court
hearings. Those that do not have funds or resources to post bail, but are seen as little
risk to public safety are frequently referred to the Court’s Day Reporting Program.
The defendant income information outlined in Table 12 is based on a PR Screener’s
queries into personal finances to determine if a public defender is needed. Please keep
in mind that defendants rarely have documentation to support their claims to
employment and expenses in jail. While PR Screeners do attempt to verify information
given to them by defendants, income is largely self-reported for recently booked
individuals. The overall percentage of indigent defendants for the booked population
is 90%.
Table 12: Percentage of Defendants Screened as Indigent by Release Action
100%

Specialty Court Conditions of Release
No Bail Posted

97%
93%

No Charges Filed

91%

Day Reporting
Electronic Home Monitoring

83%

Bail Posted
Released on Personal Recognizance
Case Resolved at Arraignment

80%
78%
75%

Much the same as income, housing status is collected and verified by the PR Screeners,
however, it should be considered largely self-reported due to limitations of possessing
documentation while in-custody. Table 13 shows the housing status by release action –
please note that “Mail Only or Shelter” should be considered as homeless, for the most
part.

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 Table 13: Housing Status by Release Action
100%

Specialty Court Conditions of Release
No Bail Posted

17%

23%

60%

43%

No Charges Filed
Day Reporting

20%

Electronic Home Monitoring

20%

23%

35%

50%

30%

40%

Bail Posted

40%

58%
42%

Released on Personal Recognizance

29%

13%

33%

26%

57%

Case Resolved at Arraignment

14%

29%

Mail Only or Shelter
Share
Own or Rent

Race and Pre-Trial Release
Table 14 and 15 show the race of defendants by release action at the PR Screening and
arraignment phase, respectively. Please note that SMC’s case management system,
MCIS, does not capture ethnicity – only race, so Hispanic is not captured as a distinct
category.
Table 14: Release Actions at PR Screening Stage, by Race
Asian

Not Released

83%
17%

Default Bail Posted
Black

Not Released
Default Bail Posted
Released on Personal Recognizance

Native American

Not Released

Unknown

Not Released

White

94%
4%
2%
100%
71%

Default Bail Posted

14%

Released on Personal Recognizance

14%

Not Released

86%
10%

Default Bail Posted
Released on Personal Recognizance

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4%

 Table 15: Release Actions at Arraignment, by Race
Asian

No Bail Posted

30%
10%

No Charges Filed

Black

Day Reporting/EHM/Specialty Court

30%

Released on Personal Recognizance

30%

No Bail Posted

33%

Bail Posted

6%
23%

No Charges Filed
14%

Day Reporting/EHM/Specialty Court

21%

Released on Personal Recognizance
3%

Case Resolved at Arraignment
Native
American

Bail Posted

33%
33%

No Charges Filed

Unknown

Released on Personal Recognizance

17%

Case Resolved at Arraignment

17%

No Bail Posted

17%

Bail Posted

17%
33%

No Charges Filed

White

Released on Personal Recognizance

17%

Case Resolved at Arraignment

17%

No Bail Posted

31%

Bail Posted

9%
35%

No Charges Filed
8%

Day Reporting/EHM/Specialty Court
Released on Personal Recognizance
Case Resolved at Arraignment

16%
2%

Findings
Determining which defendants get released pre-trial is, in the end, a subjective process
based on information at hand. Judges must balance the freedom of the individual with
the safety of the public. SMC has spent considerable resources over the past ten years
broadening release options to better address both sides of the equation. The creation of
the Day Reporting Program and strengthening of services for mentally ill defendants are
two areas that have helped reduce the jail population. The main findings from the study
are:
•
•

•

Half of the cases created at SMC are not initiated with a booking (not booked at
arrest).
The PR Screening process releases a small number of individuals with low public
safety risk, leaving the majority of release decision in the hands of judicial
officers.
Average amounts of bail are mostly larger for those that do not post bail,
inferring that those cases are more likely to be a risk to the public and/or unlikely
to appear at future court hearings.

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September 8, 2015
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 •

•

Those not able to post bail have large numbers of previous warrants and jail
bookings – both of which increase the likelihood they are a risk to public safety
and/or are unlikely to appear at future court dates.
Those not able to post bail also had a high rate of mental health issues, which
increase the likelihood of them posing danger to themselves and/or others.

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September 8, 2015
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 ATTACHMENT 1
PR RELEASE GUIDELINES

NEVER RELEASE
A.

Defendants who are booked on:
1.

No bail (designated as $9,999,999 on booking screen)

2.

Firearm

3.

Unlawful use of Weapon (brandished or used vs. simply in
possession)

4.

Stalking

5.

When defendant is booked on domestic violence charge.

6.

When evidence contained in probable cause statements, victim or
reference statements, or excited utterances indicates defendant will
present an immediate threat to the public if released.

7.

When defendant is intoxicated or otherwise in any way impaired to
the extent that he/she is unable to understand the interview
process, participate fully in the interview process, or appears
unlikely to be able to comply with the directive that he/she return to
court for future hearings.

8.

If defendant is currently booked on a DUI or physical control and has
been convicted of a prior DUI or Physical Control within the last 10
years, a vehicular homicide or vehicular assault ever, two prior

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Page 15

 DUI’s ever or has a pending DUI in any court. To check, run
defendant on OAC and NCIC.
9.

If defendant intentionally gives misleading information.

10.

If warrant is marked “No PR.”

11.

If warrant is for FTA sentencing; trial; readiness; bench trial or FTA
any DV related case. All FTC are excluded except FTC-CSH which
*may be* PR'able. (Community service hours as a condition of
sentence: PR; Community service in lieu of fine: PR; community
service in lieu of jail: NO PR (this should show in MCIS
under the jail obligation as JCSH).-Judge Hightower 1/12/09.)

12.

If warrant is for FTA for a 2nd or subsequent PTH (1st FTA PTH is
PR'able) unless defendant is scheduled for BWADD or has
reasonable explanation. If defendant has reasonable explanation,
PR at screener’s discretion.

13.

When no probable cause is available and the charge is for crime
against person, or any crime of a possibly violent nature without
PC.

SELDOM RELEASE

A.

If defendant is currently booked on five charges or more.

B.

If defendant has been previously PR’d on the same case (by screeners,
warrants or court).

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 C.

When defendant has extensive criminal history (especially for similar
charges), extensive FTA history, or extensive booking history.

D.

When no probable cause statement was completed by arresting officers.

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