An Exploratory Assessment of Race and Gender-Specific Predictors of Failure to Appear in Court Among Defendants Released via a Pretrial Services Agency

Abstract

Failure to appear (FTA) in court is an understudied and ubiquitous problem throughout the justice system and spans across all forms of pretrial release, whether financially or nonfinancially secured. Most offenders are released prior to the disposition of their case and many via government-funded pretrial services agencies. Few studies, however, have explored the factors associated with court appearance specific to race and gender groups. Relying on data culled from Dallas County, Texas, the present study assessed the predictors of FTA for defendants released via the county’s pretrial services agency and across various strata, including race and gender. Results of this exploratory analysis suggest that pretrial services defendants reporting indigence were more likely to fail to appear for all demographic groups, and felony defendants tended to appear at higher rates for most groups. Other predictors associated with failure to appear varied across gender and race including celerity, criminal history, marital status, and length of criminal involvement.