Crime and Justice Institute Special Meeting

The Crime and Justice Institute at Community Resources for Justice
Special Meeting - Action Minutes
Monday, May 19, 2014 - 3:00 pm
Large Juvenile Hall Conference Room
1420 Natividad Road, Salinas, CA
Present: Elizabeth Balcazar, Colleen Beye, Berkeley Brannon, Claire Brooker, Lisa Brooks, Rene Casas,
Catherine Crockett, Diann Cupples, Jasper DeFranco, MacGregor Eddy, James Egar, Steve Eklund, Helga
Fellay, Dean Flippo, Manuel Gonzalez, Robert Jackson, Mike McNew, Marcia Parsons, Megan Rasiling,
Manuel Real, Elliott Robinson, Elliott Ruchowitz-Roberts, Roseanne Rodarte, Robin Rodriguez, Sylvia
Shih, Rosemary Soto, Raul Damian Tapia.
A. Welcome/ Call to Order
Chief Probation Officer Manuel Real called the meeting to order at 3:07 p.m.
B. Public Comments (limit 3 minutes per speaker)
There was no public comment.
C. Regular Agenda
1. Review pretrial system assessment process.
Action: CJI staff, Lisa Brooks and Claire Brooker, reviewed the pretrial system assessment process for
Monterey County, from the time of citation or booking to the time of arraignment.
CJI staff will be on site on May 19th and May 20th to conduct the pretrial assessment. On this date, CJI
staff met with Probation staff assigned to the Pretrial Services Program to observe operations, and as well
as with Chief Probation Officer Manuel Real and Salinas Chief of Police Kelly McMillin. On May 20th,
CJI staff will meet with other stakeholders: the Public Defender, District Attorney, and Judges to gather
additional information. CJI will then provide a written report with its findings and recommendation
within 30 days. The assessment report will highlight strengths and areas for improvement, and will
include recommendations for next steps.
Chief Real reported that the County of Monterey had previously applied for a grant for technical
assistance for pretrial services, but the application was not selected for funding. The Community
Corrections Partnership (CCP) pursued the assessment of the pretrial system through CJI, as
recommended by the Board of Supervisors (BOS).
2. Complete pretrial system assessment survey
Action: All attendees completed a pretrial system assessment survey, as part of the assessment process
(Attachment A).
3. Discuss system-wide pretrial functioning
Action: Received updates on the system-wide pretrial functioning.
MacGregor Eddy recommended: a) Interviewing a community member knowledgeable on jail reform and
criminal defense work, as part of the assessment; and b) Conducting a comparison of the pretrial system
with other counties.
Lisa Brooks indicated that it would be difficult to conduct a comparison, as there are only a few counties
statewide that offer pretrial services.
4. Discuss goals for pretrial services
The project goals are: 1) Improve the process for pretrial services; 2) Reduce jail beds; 3) Improve public
safety; 4) Provide direction on data elements to be collected for evaluation.
5. Discuss accomplishments and opportunities
Action: CJI will develop a work plan to improve in areas of weakness, and provide options on how to
accomplish them.
6. Next Steps
1) Complete the site visit; 2) Develop the written report with findings and recommendations; 3)
Determine dissemination of results; 4) Follow-up with a web-based teleconference call within 30 days to
discuss the assessment results.
7. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 5:05 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by
Elizabeth Balcazar,
Administrative Secretary
Monterey County Probation Department

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