12:18 p.m.
ALACHUA COUNTY - The Alachua County Pretrial Services Program has been recommended by the Florida Corrections Accreditation Commission to receive accreditation status on February 19, 2008 at the FLA-PAC Conference to be held at the Belleview Biltmore Resort, 25 Belleview Blvd. in Clearwater, Florida.
The Alachua County Pretrial Services program is the first non-sworn Pretrial program in the State of Florida and the nation to receive this honor.
Completing the accreditation process offers Pretrial programs the opportunity to evaluate their operations against standards developed by the Florida Corrections Accreditation Commission in conjunction with the Association of Pretrial Professionals of Florida. The Pretrial Justice Institute and the National Association of Pretrial Service Agencies located in Washington, D.C. were also instrumental in providing guidance, ensuring that those standards implemented were the two agencies' current best practices.
Pretrial Services Manager Gerie Crawford of Alachua County Court Services stated, "Florida has set the standard by being the first state in the nation to offer accreditation of Pretrial programs. Alachua County, a leader in the field, recognized the value of earning this honor and is proud to receive this recognition."
Though accreditation is not mandatory, this process allows Pretrial programs to standardize their practices, eliminate deficiencies and upgrade the quality of Pretrial Services based on the aspects of Florida law and best practices providing pretrial justice to the citizens of the State of Florida.
For more information about the accreditation process, contact the Pretrial Services program at (352) 338-7348 or the website of the Florida Corrections Accreditation Commission at
http://flaccreditation.org.
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