Legal and extralegal predictors of outcomes at first appearance hearings in a rural jurisdiction

• In Event: Poster Session

Abstract

Prior research has demonstrated that pretrial detention has significant consequences for individuals. As such, research has examined the correlates of receiving a secured bond and bond amounts. While these studies show that a variety of legal and extralegal factors predict pretrial outcomes, the majority of these studies have been conducted on urban jurisdictions. The current study uses data from 946 first appearance hearings in a rural jurisdiction in North Carolina to examine the legal and extralegal predictors of being released on something other than a secured bond and whether secured bond amounts were reduced for those who remained detained. Results show that legal factors had a stronger effect on release decisions than extralegal factors (such as race and gender), but that being represented by an attorney at this "non-critical" stage was one of the strongest predictors of being released during the pretrial stage.

Authors

• Grace Popp, Western Carolina University

• Jamie Vaske, Western Carolina University