To the average person, bond amounts in Connecticut can appear to drastically differ from one individual to another despite facing the same or similar charges. But what goes into that decision is not always clear when it’s not made in an open courtroom with an official record.
In Connecticut, suspects arrested in connection with a warrant are generally held on a bond set by the judge who signed the warrant. But for those arrested at the scene of an incident or within a few hours after, without the need for a warrant, police have the task of setting the bond amount before a suspect goes to court.
Judges have the ultimate say when determining the appropriate bond in each arrest in Connecticut. But before heading to court, police departments often have the task of setting a bond amount without the approval of a judge.
“There’s no data to determine how it’s being made so we can’t analyze whether it’s kind of being done appropriately or not, and that leaves a lot of room for discretion, which can then lead to the potential of it being applied differently to different people,” said Chester Fernández, associate professor of law at Quinnipiac University.
The issue was raised in a report released earlier this year by the Connecticut Sentencing Commission. In its wide-ranging report looking at bail reform and other areas of pretrial detention, the commission noted a “concern” regarding “limited or constrained access” to non-public data “or to data on those not held pretrial, particularly individuals released by Connecticut police departments, can mean that we lack the necessary information to make comparisons, identify inequities, and inform decision making.”
“What the sentencing commission report kind of suggests is that there’s no way to then accumulate data to identify what police are using to make those decisions and who even within the police are making those decisions,” said Fernández, a former public defender in Massachusetts and Connecticut.
“What’s happening in court, there’s an official record,” he said. “You can get a copy of the transcript of the hearing.”
According to Officer Christian Bruckhart of the New Haven Police Department, the supervisor in charge of the detention area is tasked with setting any bonds in on-site arrests. The factors taken into account include someone’s criminal history, the nature of the charges, whether the arrest is tied to domestic violence and if the individual has ever failed to appear in court, he said.
Lt. Aaron Boisvert of the Hartford Police Department said the booking supervisor in his department sets bond amounts for any arrest not made through a warrant using guidelines, similarly to New Haven.
Bruckhart and Boisvert noted that bond amounts are reviewed by a bail commissioner with the state and sometimes modified. By law, police departments are required to notify a bail commissioner with the Court Support Services Division of the Connecticut Judicial Branch any time someone is unable to post bail.
“The final say for the bond is the bond commissioner, who can adjust (it) as he sees fit,” Boisvert said.
In Connecticut, any bond set at $20,000 or less can be posted by putting up 10% in cash. Anything higher than that can be put up fully in cash or a posted using a bondsperson who charges a nonrefundable fee.
According to Lt. Mark Cleverdon, the South Windsor Police Department has a specific bond policy in place with a “bond recommendation chart and bond rating scale” that is used by the watch commander who sets bond, which could be a sergeant, corporal or lieutenant. The chart includes a negative or positive point system that takes several things into account, including the charges and the individual’s living situation, education, employment history, substance abuse history, access to weapons, other pending charges and any potential history of not coming to court, Cleverdon said.
“The watch commander has the ability to change the bond amount based upon the totality of the circumstances, but the bond amount is normally set using the bond recommendation chart,” Cleverdon said.
Cleverdon also said a bail commissioner is available on-call before a phone interview is facilitated, which could lead to the bond being modified.
Sgt. Matthew J. D’Esposito of the Newington Police Department said his department has a general order policy that outlines recommended bonds based on “classification of the crime,” which he said helps assist the sergeant serving as the shift commander who sets bail amounts. D’Esposito also noted that bail commissioners are notified of an arrest when an individual is being processed but that the interview does not happen immediately.
“A bail commissioner will then reach out to arrange for a telephone or in-person interview based on their scheduling,” D’Esposito said.
A spokesperson for CSSD said bail commissioners must adhere to “established statutes, policy and protocol” outlined under Connecticut law. Factors that can play a role include someone’s family and community ties, prior criminal record and the condition of their physical and mental health, among others.
According to CSSD, of the 48,387 custodial arrests made in Connecticut this year as of Oct. 5, 20,082 individuals were held on bond at a police department and interviewed by a bail commissioner. The others were either released on a promise to appear or were able to post bond.