Any person charged and detained pursuant to Ohio law or Municipal code that is scheduled to appear in a Hamilton County arraignment court is eligible for pretrial services. Pretrial Release Unit staff interview, investigate, and prepare a bail report for each eligible defendant. Bail reports include the defendant’s interview and demographics, verified criminal history, and validated risk assessment. The bail report, made available for any judicial officer in Hamilton County, includes the Ohio Risk Assessment System scale according to Ohio Revised Code 5120-114 with scores indicating risk of flight and the likelihood of a new criminal arrest. The report additionally assists to determine the least restrictive non-financial release, to determine the level of pretrial service intervention that may be needed to assist defendants in meeting conditions of supervised release, and to screen for treatment intervention and specialty dockets. For defendants without a standard bond, bail is reviewed by the duty judge prior to or at arraignment. Information contained in the agency files, presented in its report, or divulged during the course of any hearing is not admissible on the issue of guilt in any judicial proceeding, but such information may be used in proceedings pursuant to violation of conditions of release and failure to appear on bail. The agency makes available to the prosecutor and defense attorney copies of its report and flight risk determinations.
