The Sheriff's Pretrial Services (PTS) unit works to safely reduce the number of people detained before trial by gathering information about individuals recently arrested, conducting pretrial assessments, preparing individually tailored recommendations to the court regarding release options and conditions, and providing pretrial services and supervision to individuals on pretrial release.

Penal Code 1320.35(a) provides that the intent of "the Legislature in enacting this section is to understand and reduce biases based on gender, income level, race, or ethnicity in pretrial release decision making". These ideas have significantly impacted pretrial practice in California and in particular the development and use of pretrial assessments. The CAPA-R is an assessment that is compliant with the pretrial risk assessment tool specifications in the Penal Code.

Sheriff's staff is finalizing the implementation of the newly validated tool for San Diego County. 

California Pretrial Assessment (CAPA) Validation Study