Welcome To The Pennsylvania Pretrial Services Association
Promoting the establishment of professional Pretrial Services programs and practices in Pennsylvania since 1994.
Pretrial Services Agencies
A dedicated pretrial services agency ensures that management of essential functions occurs under a single organization goal and better coordination among elements—for example, ensuring that release recommendations match supervision resources and capacity. A single management structure also provides better staff direction and motivation to critical work priorities and clearer lines of communication. The justice system also has a single actor responsible for pretrial functions.
Preferably, the pretrial services agency should be a separate, independent entity. Jurisdictions may incorporate pretrial services agencies within a larger “parent” organization, if that component has:
- Clearly-defined, pretrial service-related function as its purpose
- Staff assigned only to pretrial-related work with pretrial defendants
- Management that can make independent decisions on budget, staffing, and policy