Nevada County is among 16 counties getting funding for a pilot program designed to speed up pre-arraignment releases of suspects posing no threat to the public. The Judicial Council of California has awarded the county 331-thousand dollars. District Attorney Cliff Newell says it will provide additional staffing in the Probation Department to evaluate a suspect in the jail. The inmate will no longer have to wait for his office to file a criminal complaint or need to post bail…

Meanwhile, opponents of the no-bail legislation have gathered enough signatures to place the issue on the November 2020 statewide ballot. Newell says Nevada County was already implementing a similar system even before the bill was passed…

State Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye has stated previously that California’s pretrial detention system unfairly penalizes low-income people who can’t afford the current high bail costs.