Save Our Pretrial Services Program!
Pretrial Services help people stay out of jail, improving their lives and saving taxpayer dollars.
Why is Alameda County poised to end its promising new Pretrial Expansion Program after less than a year? How can we get the County leadership to change their minds?
Since February of this year, the Berkeley-based non-profit Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS) has been operating a Pretrial Expansion Program (PEP) in partnership with Alameda County Superior Court’s Office of Pretrial Services. County funding for the program is set to end on December 31, 2026.
PEP serves the “pretrial population” – people who have been arrested, charged, and released from jail pending resolution of the case against them. California’s Supreme Court has affirmed the constitutional right of pretrial release for anyone charged with a misdemeanor or a nonviolent or nonsexual felony. [See: Humphry ruling, and Kowalczyk ruling]
Under these rulings, Alameda County’s pretrial population – now around 3,000 people – is expected to grow rapidly. [PEP press release].
PEP is designed to serve people the Court identifies as moderately likely to re-offend during the pretrial period. BOSS program staff provide case-management and service connections (housing support, mental health and substance use services, etc.) aimed at improving lives and reducing re-arrests and further system involvement.
PEP’s early results were impressive enough to attract the attention of local press. (See the article link in the box below.) While highlighting findings like a 24% reduction in re-arrest and failure-to-appear rates, press accounts reported concerns about the County’s commitment to seeing PEP continue.
Expanded pretrial services helped more people stay out of jail in Alameda County, court data shows. Oaklandside article, July 13, 2026, by Roselyn Romero
“The program appears to be successful based on the early statistics that we have for the past five months. Pulling the plug after less than a year would be a real tragedy.”
Presiding Judge Michael Markman, quoted in Oaklandside article, July 13, 2026
“When a person walks out of jail, they are not just walking through a door—they are stepping into one of the most vulnerable and critical moments of their life. Reentry begins in that very moment.
Having a trained, dedicated case manager there to see them, hear them, and help them navigate what comes next is more than providing a service—it is creating a real opportunity for successful reintegration and can make the difference between returning to the system and successfully returning to the community.”
Dr. Nichole Pettway, BOSS Deputy Director
The County’s Behavioral Health Advisory Board (BHAB) also sounded the alarm in its July 2026 Care First, Jails Last Implementation Report. Presenting to a committee of the Board of Supervisors, BHAB Chair, Brian Bloom, appealed for action to continue the BOSS PEP program when its current funding and contract expire in December.
Participating Supervisors Marquez and Tam expressed support but made no commitment to relay the BHAB’s funding appeal to the full Board for action.
Since then, BHAB and ICJJ have learned that some County Agencies have withdrawn their critical support for the PEP, and the Probation Department is proposing to take over the program on a rushed timeline that threatens the continuity of care for hundreds of people now being served. From the few details available, the replacement program will not meet the current need, let alone those of an expanding pretrial population.
The County is poised to end its contract with BOSS despite the successful preliminary data and despite having funds available. Alameda Co. Superior Court, which supervises BOSS’s contract, is pushing back forcefully (see here). We support the Court’s position.
ICJJ and allies in the BHAB-CFJL Ad Hoc Committee and the Care First Community Coalition strongly oppose closing the PEP program before a 1-year evaluation and cost accounting can be completed and made public. Those data should shape whatever comes next, whether that’s a continuation of the BOSS program or a Probation Department-run replacement.
We urge the Board of Supervisors to commit a full year of bridge funding (through December 2027) to enable BOSS’s PEP to continue operating while these steps unfold and there’s a clear and acceptable path forward.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Please call or email your Supervisor to urge them to extend the Pretrial Extension Program with BOSS through 2027. Send copies to their staff.
SAMPLE EMAIL
Dear Supervisor, I am deeply concerned by reports that your Board may prematurely pull the plug on the new and promising Pretrial Expansion Program. By all accounts, it’s meeting every measure of success, including lowering re-arrest rates and giving people real second chances. Please extend BOSS’s contract through 2027! Let their 1-year evaluation, not county politics, determine what comes next.
Click Link: FIND YOUR DISTRICT
Supervisorial District | Title | Phone (510) | |
1 | Supervisor Chief of Staff Supervisor’s Assistant: Policy and Committees Assistant, Public Protection | 272-6691 | |
2 | Supervisor Chief of Staff Public Safety Advisor | 272-6692 | |
3 | Supervisor Chief of Staff Policy Advisor, Public Protection | 272-6693 | |
4 | Supervisor Chief of Staff Deputy Chief of Staff Senior Constituent Liaison & Organizer, Public Protection and Safety Policy | 272-6694 | |
5 | Supervisor Chief of Staff Chief of Legislative Affairs and Community Safety | 272-6695 |
