Adds to existing law to authorize a court to determine whether a pretrial supervision program is appropriate and to provide for a pretrial supervision fee.

A court considering pretrial release must balance the presumption of innocence and defendant's right to bail that is not excessive with ensuring public safety, protection of victims and witnesses, and the appearance of thedefendant. ExistingIdaholawexpresslyprovidesthatthepostingofbondisonlytoensurethedefendant's appearance, and thus, supervised pretrial release programs should be specifically authorized and funded in ordertoaddressthepublicsafetyandprotectionofvictimsandwitnessesprongsoftheequation. Supervised pretrial release programs have been in existence in Idaho for fifteen (15) years, and currently thirty (30) of Idaho's forty-four (44) counties have such a program. The current "Bail, Release on Recognizance and Condition of Release" statute, I.C. §19-2904, permits courts to impose conditions upon defendants released from custody while awaiting trial. The proposed legislation seeks to add a new section, §19-2904A, to specifically authorize courts to require, as a condition of a defendant's release, that they be supervised while awaiting trial. Per this statute, each county can decide whether to establish a supervised pretrial release program. If the county has or adopts such a program, then the court may, in the exercise of discretion and in addition to any bond to ensure appearance, require supervision or monitoring of a defendant who is awaiting trial to ensure public safety, protection of victims and witnesses, and compliance with other conditions of release. This proposed legislation also seeks to add another new section, §31-3201J, entitled "Pretrial Supervision Fee" to fund the supervised pretrial release programs. Pursuant to this new section, the court could require a released defendant to pay a fee of no more than thirty dollars ($30) per month, plus the actual cost of electronic monitoring and/or drug and alcohol testing if such monitoring and/or testing is also a condition of release. The fees would be used exclusively to cover the costs of the pre