The Pretrial Justice Institute History

In 1976, the U.S. Department of Justice funded the establishment of the Pretrial Services Resource Center, now called the Pretrial Justice Institute, in response to a request from The National Association of Pretrial Service Agencies (NAPSA) Board of Directors. In a 1975 survey by the National Center for State Courts, 91 percent of pretrial program directors expressed a need for further training and technical assistance for themselves and their staffs Spurred by this finding, the NAPSA directors submitted a proposal to the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration for the funding of an entity that could provide such assistance. The proposal was funded and the Pretrial Justice Institute was incorporated on December 2, 1976, opening our doors on March 1, 1977.

As stated in the Articles of Incorporation we were founded "…to promote research and development, exchange of ideas and issues, and professional competence in the field of pretrial services, to encourage the establishment of responsible agencies to provide such services, to provide technical assistance to those agencies providing such services, to provide a regular means of communication among such agencies and to develop and implement training materials and techniques for those engaged in delivering such services."

In 2007, we changed our name to the Pretrial Justice Institute to more accurately reflect our mission.