Photo: Leigh Anne Hiatt

On Wednesday, June 6, 2018, Kentucky joined a cohort of states committed to commonsense pretrial reform and supported by the Pretrial Justice Institute’s nationally recognized expertise and resources. Chief Justice of Kentucky John Minton Jr. and Cherise Fanno Burdeen, chief executive office of the Pretrial Justice Institute held a joint news conference at the Capitol in Frankfort to announce that Kentucky Pretrial Services, a department within the Administrative Office of the Courts, will take part in 3DaysCount. The national initiative looks to make pretrial justice safer, fairer, and more effective by reducing the number of people in jail without sacrificing public safety. Chief Justice Minton said it is a growing call for reform against financial bail, which can penalize the poor. The goals of 3DaysCount is to reduced unnecessary arrests, replace money bail with practical alternatives, restrict pretrial detention to those who pose unmanageable risk to public safety or of flight, and raise equity so that all people experience the benefits of system improvements.