Bail Reform in North Carolina—Pilot Project: Early Involvement of Counsel

In prior blog posts I outlined some of the reasons why stakeholders are interested in bail reform and some of the options that are being considered. In this one, I discuss one bail reform pilot project already underway in North Carolina. In 2018, I worked with stakeholders in North Carolina’s Judicial District 30B (Haywood and Jackson counties) to help them identify and implement a basket of pretrial reforms. One of the implemented reforms is a pilot project providing for the early involvement of counsel in pretrial release proceedings. In a nutshell, first appearance “contract counsel” represent defendants at the first appearance. Covered defendants include those whose highest charge is a misdemeanor or Class H or I felony and those arrested for a probation violation. Contract counsel meet with defendants at the jail and review defendants’ criminal history before the first appearance. Because Judicial District 30B does not have a public defender, this pilot project would not have been possible without the support of North Carolina Indigent Defense Services (NC IDS). Under the program, contract counsel are retained and paid pursuant to contracts with NC IDS. Contract counsel serve only for the purposes noted above; assigned counsel are appointed to represent defendants after the first appearance. The pilot went into effect January 1, 2019. Why Focus on Early Involvement of Counsel? In North Carolina, defendants receive no representation at the first pretrial determination, the initial appearance. Because counsel typically isn’t appointed for an indigent defendant until the first appearance, counsel has had [...]