Exploring Why Defendants Do Not Appear for Court

• In Event: The Impact of Bond Type and Other Factors on Pretrial Outcomes

Abstract

Failure to appear for court is one of the most common outcome measures used to determine pretrial success. Jurisdictions nationwide are implementing strategies such as court reminders to reduce failures to appear. However, the reasons why individuals fail to appear are still relatively unknown. Through surveys of people who were arrested on a failure to appear warrant in two jurisdictions, this paper examines 1) the reasons for defendants fail to appear for their court hearings 2) if certain groups of defendants have different reasons for missing court hearings. Preliminary findings suggest that unintentional reasons for missing court hearings are more commonly reported than intentional absconding; the reasons reported also differ by defendant characteristics. These findings highlight the importance to distinguish between unintentional failure to appear and intentional absconding. Key stakeholders have an opportunity to improve outcomes by implementing strategies that are more responsive to the underlying reasons for missed court hearings.

Authors

• Molly Buchanan, Northeastern University

• Mei Yang, Crime and Justice Institute

• Jessica Hickman, Crime and Justice Institute