Pretrial Services
- Adam Christiansen, Senior Probation Officer/Pretrial Services – achristiansen@dekalbcounty.org
- Jamie Donaldson, Pretrial Officer – jdonaldson@dekalbcounty.org
- Christopher Klimpke, Pretrial Officer – cklimpke@dekalbcounty.org
Forms
DeKalb County’s Pretrial Services Unit, a division of Court Services provides the court with information about persons who have been charged with a crime to assist the judge in determining appropriate conditions of release to minimize the risk of failure to appear or community safety by such individuals. Additionally, it utilizes objective research-based risk assessments and provides direct supervision of many individuals while they are pending criminal trial.
The DeKalb County Pretrial Services Program began on June 9, of 2014 as a result of Illinois 725 ILCS 185/1-34 Pretrial Services Act: Enacted by the Illinois General Assembly mandating circuit courts in Illinois to establish a pretrial services agency to provide the court with accurate background data regarding the pretrial release of persons charged with felonies and effective supervision of compliance with the terms and conditions imposed upon release.
Our program was developed in line with national best practices as determined by current criminal justice research and the national professional association for the pretrial release and pretrial diversion fields.
It is the mission of DeKalb County Pretrial Services
To assist the judicial system in the fair administration of justice on criminal pretrial matters, utilizing evidence based methods in compliance with the Illinois statutes. It accomplishes this mission by:
- Providing quality and timely information to the criminal courts in order to assist in the judicial decision to release or detain at the earliest feasible opportunity.
- Providing pretrial supervision for individuals accused of a crime who are released from custody pending trial, while being vigilant of community safety and assuring compliance with the conditions of release.
In early 2017 the program began the process of agency accreditation with the National Association of Pretrial Services Agencies (NAPSA). “NAPSA’s Accreditation program provides Pretrial Agencies the opportunity to ensure that the pretrial release standards are being implemented in programs to their fullest extent. It is not just achieving accreditation that is the ultimate goal, but also maintaining accreditation that attest to the agency striving for excellence through application of these standards and best practices throughout its operation.”
In order to receive national accreditation from NAPSA, an agency must go thru a process of review that typically takes 2 years of intensive program review by NAPSA auditors and requires that the agency be found in compliance with the 39 accreditation standards. These standards, revised and approved by the NAPSA board, are intended to provide direction, guidance, and inspiration to pretrial practitioners in their daily work of providing pretrial services in criminal cases.
On April 1, 2019 DeKalb County Pretrial Services was awarded national accreditation by NAPSA, making it only 1 of 4 agencies in the nation to receive this distinction thus far, and the first in the Midwest.
For More information on Pretrial and NAPSA, please visit https://napsa.org/
If you are looking to find out more information on someone you know who is currently in custody at the DeKalb County Jail, please call the DeKalb County Jail non-emergency number at: 815-895-2155 or register for updated custody status and criminal case information at: https://vinelink.com