DISTRICT COURT UPDATE
Summons Article, November, 2007
written by
Hon. M. Randall Jurrens

District  Court  Update

      Electronic monitoring (EM) of district court criminal defendants is the subject of this month’s update.

      For over 10 years our local district court has participated in EM programs operated by the Saginaw County Sheriff Department, whereby criminal defendants are “tethered” to their homes (via an electronic ankle “bracelet”), subject to the possibility of court authorized “leave” for work, school, medical appointments, counseling, etc. 

      In the pre-trial version, the Sheriff Department operates MOR (Monitor on Release) as an alternative or supplement to money bail.  The post-sentencing variation is called PLUS (Prisoners Leave Under Supervision).

      Under each program, the defendant must have a permanent residence, have a working land-line telephone (without special features such as caller ID, call forwarding, call waiting, etc.), have no outstanding warrants, be and remain drug/alcohol free, is subject to random alcohol/drug testing and home visits, pay in advance an assessment fee, pay in advance the then-current week’s user fee, and sign an “agreement” acknowledging his/her responsibilities.  Any violation may result in revocation of the defendant’s release and [re]incarceration.

      In order to address current EM program costs, the District Court recently approved the following fee schedules:   

n      PLUS:  in addition to a $25 assessment fee, participants will be charged a user fee set in the judge’s discretion (generally using “guidelines” suggesting $6 to $25 per day based on the defendant’s income and dependents).

n      MOR:  in addition to the $25 assessment fee, participants will be charged a flat fee of $12 per day; although, in the exercise of discretion (where financial information is available to enable an informed decision), the arraigning or assigned judge may modify a defendant’s daily rate to an amount comparable to the PLUS guidelines.  

      So, be advised that, with costs of nearly everything rising over the past 10 years, the price of district court EM is now MOR, PLUS some.☺

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