Baltimore County corrections officials are preparing to implement video bail review proceedings this summer, a move they said could cut transportation costs and boost courthouse security.
County police chief Terrence Sheridan told members of the County Council Tuesday that he hopes the system ? which administrators have “considered” for the past two decades ? will be under way by July 1. Baltimore County is one of the few remaining large jurisdictions in Maryland to still conduct in-person bail reviews, officials said, and Sheridan estimated the move could free up to 10,000 police hours per year during night shifts alone.
“We?ll see more police out doing service on the street instead of transporting prisoners,” Sheridan said.
Under existing policy, police officers must drive prisoners from precincts to district court buildings in Catonsville, Essex or Towson for initial bail hearings, then back to the precinct if bail is denied or can?t be met ? then back again for a review hearing the next business day. Video bail review would eliminate the trip back to the precinct after the initial hearing.
One lawmaker, Councilman Vince Gardina, D-District 5, expressed concern the new plan will boost the volume of prisoners released onto Towson streets, rather than closer to their homes. Meg Ferguson, the county?s criminal justice coordinator, estimated between eight and 10 additional prisoners will be released from Towson daily.
But T. Wray McCurdy, a defense attorney and member of the executive council of the county?s bar association, said he expects as many as half of prisoners to be released after bail reviews.
McCurdy said he worries the detention center will transform into “the worst neighbor it?s ever been.”
“You?ll have those people walking out of there with no money in their pockets and nowhere to go,” McCurdy said in a previous interview.
