Pretrial justice reform: closing the door to mass incarceration

Communities across the country can deliver public safety and justice without using county jails as a first response to every social challenge.

Local jails are the front door to mass incarceration. In 2024, nearly 660,000 people were detained in jails on any given day, accounting for more than one-third of incarcerated people in the United States. In 2022, there were more than 7 million admissions to jails. And more than four out of five people detained in local jails are legally innocent— they have not been convicted and are simply awaiting their day in court.

The national jail incarceration rate fell by 20 percent from 2010 to 2024, and geographic patterns in jail use shifted: in spring 2024, jail incarceration rates in rural counties were 2.1 times higher than in urban counties. At the same time, racial disparities in jail incarceration are worsening overall, especially in rural and small/midsize metropolitan areas.

Incarcerating so many people in jails, particularly those people awaiting trial or a plea, does not create safety. Unnecessary jail detention destabilizes people’s health and their economic and social stability. Research shows that spending even 24 hours in jail increases a person’s likelihood of being re-arrested in the future—with this counter-productive effect worsening with jail stays beyond three days. Further, pretrial detention does not improve a person’s odds of appearing in court.

What we do

Vera’s Beyond Jails Initiative works to decrease jail populations by changing local and state policies and practices and by supporting investment in community-based solutions beyond law enforcement. We do this by:

• Reducing the use of money bail. Money bail is fundamentally inequitable, as wealthier people can buy their freedom while others who are in similar legal situations but have less money remain in detention. Further, research shows that imposing money bail does not help people show up for court or avoid future arrest.
• Decriminalizing poverty. Research shows that a substantial portion of jail bookings are for activities that often stem from unmet economic and health needs, including trespassing, drug possession, and administrative driving-related charges (including driving with a suspended license, which is itself often due to unpaid court fees). We focus on eliminating the use of jail for these minor charges and building alternative, more effective responses.
• Reducing the use of excessive supervision and monitoring. Probation is the most common criminal sentence in the United States, and community supervision is common for people released pretrial. Revocations for technical violations—such as missing a meeting or a court hearing—account for a substantial portion of jail bookings. People facing unpaid fees for probation are at a higher risk for revocation. Similarly, the use of electronic monitoring, which is an alternative to jail detention, is rapidly expanding in scope—and it is costly and harmful, with dubious public safety benefits. When probation conditions are too onerous, this “alternative” becomes a tripwire back to jail. Instead, community supervision (both pretrial and as a sentence) should connect people to the support services they need and should reward people meeting their goals.

How we work

We combine research, policy expertise, and advocacy to develop, implement, evaluate, and replicate policies and practices to reduce the use of jails. At the county level, we work with community and government partners. At the state level, we work with coalition partners to inform and advocate for statewide policy and legislative changes.

Where we work

Currently, we work in several states at the county and state level: California, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

* Sources: Jacob Kang-Brown and Jess Zhang, People in Jail and Prison in 2024 (New York: Vera Institute of Justice, 2024); Jess Zhang, Jacob Kang-Brown, and Ari Kotler, People on Electronic Monitoring (New York: Vera Institute of Justice, 2024); and Christopher T. Lowenkamp, The Hidden Costs of Pretrial Detention Revisited (Houston, TX; Arnold Ventures, 2022).

Contact Us

To reach the Beyond Jails Initiative, please email beyondjailsinitiative@vera.org.