With the one-year stopgap funding in place for FY 15 but no policy solution to Maryland’s court-ordered changes to its bail system, the Courts and counties continue to work toward implementation of this difficult matter.
The state’s Court of Appeals is currently weighing its implementation schedule, while the District Court leadership is evaluating procedures to recruit “appointed attorneys” to represent indigent defendants in preliminary bail hearings, all in the wake of the recent Richmond v. DeWolfe decision. Meanwhile, a limited pool of state funding leaves counties potentially liable for costs beyond the state’s $10 million appropriation, but without any clear guidance on what these expected costs may be.
MACo has been aggressively covering these issues, and will continue to follow their effects on county detention centers, county budgets, and the justice system.
For more detail, see the following recent articles from Conduit Street:
Counties & Courts Work Together on Bail Plans
Courts’ Rules Committee to Consider Bail Procedures