SJC partners continue to enhance strategies for pretrial release, including pursuing diversion options, especially for people with substance use disorders; moving the Pretrial Safety Assessment to the magistrates when possible; and maintaining the use of non-financial release conditions and focusing on safely releasing individuals charged with non-violent offenses.

SJC partners are continuing to increase efficiencies in case processing in several ways: creating a Jail Review Team and expanding its focus to include criteria for unsecured bonds and parameters for detention; reviewing cases for early release of people who have received sentences and identifying alternatives for certain charges; promoting a court notifications in the community; and increasing early access to defense counsel.

Progress: The SJC supports staff within the district attorney’s and public defender offices who expedite pretrial cases of people in custody, and lead a weekly Jail Review Team. The Jail Review Team brings together the prosecution and defense along representatives from the jail, pretrial services, RHA, and justice services to review all cases on a bond report of people in custody beyond time-thresholds based on most serious charge.

Building on its foundation of work to advance racial equity in its justice system, the county is hiring a coordinator to champion collaborative racial equity work; expanding data analysis and the review of policies and practices using the local Racial Equity Workgroup’s equity tool; continuing to train stakeholders; and partnering with community members to discuss challenges and co-design solutions and interventions.

Progress: To embed racial equity in efforts to transform the justice system, the Racial Equity Workgroup (REW) has:

• Hosted over 15 educational and training opportunities, both internally and with broader justice system stakeholders and partners.
• Analyzed disparities across justice system decision points and developed strategies to incorporate a focus on equity
• Laid the foundation for the County’s proclamation of Racism as a Public Safety Emergency
• Developed a Racial Equity Tool to identify policies and practices contributing to inequities, and are designing a local equity curriculum for justice system partners.

The Community Engagement Workgroup held a series of listening sessions to create space for community members to share experiences and concerns and generate solutions. Looking ahead, the workgroup will provide outreach and education on the justice system, collaborate with community members to develop interventions that address community safety and drivers of incarceration; and partner with community groups on events.

Both violence and the justice system have inequitable impacts on Black people living in Buncombe County. The SJC Racial Equity Workgroup has found significant disparity in demographics of people entering jail and length of stay (LOS) due to violent felonies: in 2019, 37% of people released for a violent felony during a nine month period were Black, and on average they had been in custody 21 days longer than their White counterparts. These disparities were exacerbated during the pandemic, and were a major driver of increased inequities in jail during the height of the pandemic response. While people charged with less serious felonies and misdemeanors were having bonds unsecured/reduced or cases quickly resolved, people charged with more serious violent felonies remained in custody.

Concerns around safety also emerged as a theme in listening sessions hosted by the Community Engagement Workgroup prior to the pandemic. Community concerns are reinforced by data showing the disproportionate impact violence is having on Black people living in Asheville - approximately 63-71% of gun violence victims in Asheville are Black. In the first seven months of 2020, there were nine homicides, seven of the victims were Black men. In 2019, Black people represented 6.3 percent of Buncombe County’s population, yet comprised 25 percent of the jail population and 69 percent of gun violence victims. The pandemic has exacerbated the stressors that drive violence as root causes that fuel cycles of violence, including intersecting trauma and stress, have been intensified during the pandemic. Community members have voiced a strong desire for investment in community-led approaches to support safety in their communities.