News from all over - Portland
Thanks to an automated telephone system that started dialing a sampling of criminal defendants of Multnomah County Oregon Circuit Court, the proportion of those who skipped their court dates dropped from 29 percent to 16 percent. The results of the two-year pilot project are so promising that sometime in the next few months, the reminder system will start calling all of the roughly 72,000 people charged with a crime in the county each year.
Last month, county commissioners approved $157,000 to expand the automated reminder system over the next year. The county's Department of Community Justice will oversee the program and is also eyeing the benefits of using the automated system to remind people to show up for their parole and probation appointments, to register with police as sex offenders and to attend drug and alcohol treatment.
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Last month, county commissioners approved $157,000 to expand the automated reminder system over the next year. The county's Department of Community Justice will oversee the program and is also eyeing the benefits of using the automated system to remind people to show up for their parole and probation appointments, to register with police as sex offenders and to attend drug and alcohol treatment.
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