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Nine counties will give immediate bail to some

Edmonson, Butler among those selected to try cost-saving move

By ROGER ALFORD, The Associated Press

Wednesday, November 18, 2009 11:52 AM CST

FRANKFORT -- Some people who get arrested for nonviolent crimes in nine Kentucky counties will be able to post bail immediately instead of going to jail, under an initiative that court officials hope will help slow down the rising cost of locking people up.

The Kentucky Supreme Court selected Bell, Boone, Boyd, Butler, Campbell, Edmonson, Kenton, Ohio and Pike counties to try the cost-saving initiative for a year beginning Jan. 1 to determine if it should be expanded statewide.

Justice Will T. Scott said the project, if successful, could save the state $150 million a year by allowing people arrested on any of more than 700 mostly misdemeanor charges to immediately post bail and go home.

The 35-page list of charges includes marijuana possession, prostitution, minor traffic offenses, hunting violations and shoplifting.

It includes 24 first-offense felony theft charges, ranging from stealing electrical service to stealing mail.

People charged with violent crimes wouldn't be eligible.

"We want to cut the cost to county jails, but we don't want to release anyone who is going to hurt people," Scott said.

Christopher Cohron, president of the Kentucky Association of Commonwealth's Attorneys, has said previously that the program could substantially reduce jail costs while posing only minimal risks to public safety.

"You can never eliminate all risk," Scott said.

"But we've taken out not only violent crimes, but any crimes that even portend violence."

Faced with a series of budget shortfalls, Kentucky lawmakers have been looking for ways to reduce spending on jails and prisons.

The Administrative Office of the Courts has estimated that the Supreme Court's initiative could save Kentucky more than $400,000 a day.

The immediate bail plan would especially come into play at night or on weekends when judges are off duty and unavailable to approve bonds.

Scott said jailers and deputy jailers would work under strict guidelines when releasing prisoners on bail.

Those guidelines would allow them to defer decisions on bail to a judge in cases that they believe warrant further consideration.

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