Central Booking Unit

• Pretrial Officers interview defendants in custody at the Travis County Jail and make recommendations to the Court regarding release on Personal Bond, and which conditions, if any, should be required of the defendant if he/she is released. The Court decides whether to grant release on Personal Bond and orders the conditions of release.
• Pretrial Officers collect information from defendants, both in custody and out-of-custody, so that the Court can make an informed decision about a defendant's indigence status and whether he/she qualifies for court-appointed counsel.
• Pretrial Officers conduct bond interviews of defendants who report to Court pursuant to a Field Release Citation issued by law enforcement as allowed by the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure.1
• The Central Booking Unit is staffed 365 days/year, 20 hours per day (6:00 AM - 2:00 AM), and is open to the public from 7:30 AM - 8:30 PM M-F and 8:00 AM - 8:30 PM Weekends and Holidays.

1. Tx. Code of Criminal Procedure §14.06 (c))

The key focus of Pretrial Officers is whether or not the defendant, if released, poses a risk to community safety or a risk of failure to appear. As a result, a number of factors influence the Pretrial Officer's recommendation to the Court.

Positive:

• Employment status
• Family Support
• Stability in Community
• Nature of the Charges Being Faced

Negative:

• Lacks Stability
• Lacks Family Support
• Seriousness of offense
• Prior Criminal History
• History of Violence
• Evidence of mental instability

• Drug Counseling
• Alcohol Counseling
• Family Violence Counseling
• No Contact with Complaining Witness
• Participation in one or more of Pretrial Services' Caseload Programs

• Pretrial Legal and Evidence Based Practices (LEBP) has as its goal the use of strategies and practices that are proven to reduce the risk of pretrial failure (re-arrest and failure to appear in court), while assuring the safety of the community and respecting the constitutional rights of the accused.
• The Central Booking Unit aligns with Pretrial LEBP through implementing an objective risk assessment to guide the bond recommendation process, updating our statistical and reporting methods, using Motivational Interviewing techniques in the interview process, and ensuring that we consider defendants for release on Personal Bond with the least possible restrictions while assuring the safety of the community and respecting the constitutional rights of the accused.