STANDARDSNAPSA has promulgated professional standards for the pretrial release and diversion fields since 1978. These Standards outline the Association’s ideals for sound front-end decision-making and effective pretrial programming. The Standards are one of NAPSA’s unique contributions to the pretrial field and a relevant force in today’s redefinition of acceptable front-end practices and a foundation to support critical and new thinking in the future. The original 1978 Release Standards defined realistic and achievable goals and sound pretrial release practices, drawing on the experience of practitioners who had been involved in the first two decades of bail reform. The 1995 and 2004 updates of the Release standards and 1995 and 2008 Diversion/Intervention standards revisions offered fresh re-examination of the original Standards in light of emerging issues facing pretrial decision-makers and changes that had taken place in practices, technology, case law, and program capabilities since the original Standards’ publication. In 2018, the NAPSA Board of Directors established a permanent Standards Committee to ensure that the Association’s Standards remained current with research, statute, and case law related to best and promising pretrial practices. The resulting 2020 and 2024 Standard editions--developed by this Committee and approved by the NAPSA Board--continue to describe what NAPSA believes are the components of an effective, legal, and evidence-based bail system. The new Standards also strengthen NAPSA’s support of independent pretrial services agencies, the use of validated pretrial outcome assessments, supervision conditions individualized to specific and identifiable risk factors, and the abolition of financial conditions of bail. **NEW** - NAPSA Pretrial Standards: Revised 2024 2024 NAPSA Standards Update Preview NAPSA Standards on Pretrial Release, 2020 Edition Standards on Pretrial Release, Third Edition Performance Standards and Goals for Pretrial Diversion/Intervention |