Text-message reminders are a cheap and effective way to reduce pretrial detention

"Between 2015 and 2016, however, Hernandez says the misdemeanor FTA rate ranged between 52 and 57 percent in the county, and for felonies it was between 20 and 30 percent. While Uptrust only collects data on recipients of its reminders—making the data both incomplete and potentially biased—Sills says that three Contra Costa offices that use Uptrust see an average FTA rate for misdemeanors and felonies combined of only 2.5 percent. In the next year, the company expects to undertake more research to better assess their impact."

American Bar Association Journal

July 17, 2018