Evaluating the Impacts of Desk Appearance Ticket Reform in Rural and Suburban New York, 2018-2022 - Report

Sep 17, 2026

Uploaded by Aurora

Evaluates the implementation and impact of Desk Appearance Ticket (DAT) reform in a sample of New York Town and Village Justice Court jurisdictions from 2018 to 2022. Analyzes arrest and DAT issuance patterns across six counties, documenting declining arrests overall, a small set of common charges, and mixed DAT changes—especially differences between misdemeanor arrests and Class E/D felony trends. Also considers overlapping policy shifts affecting access to counsel and how centralized arraignment parts may influence pre-arraignment detention.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages36

Reading Time1 h 31 min

AccessFree to download

Executive Summary

Contextual Changes in Arrests and Charge Composition

Changes in DAT Issuance

Overlapping Policy Changes

Summary

F I N N Evaluating the Impacts of Desk Appearance Ticket Reform in Rural and Suburban New York, 2018-2022 January 2024 The John F. Finn Institute for Public Safety, Inc. 421 New Karner Road Suite 12 Albany, NY 12205 518.456.6323 Alissa Pollitz Worden, Ph. D. Beau Holladay, M.AMorgan Madison, M.A. James Miller, M.A. Kaitlin Moloney Robert E. Worden, Ph.D., Director Sarah J. McLean, Ph.D., Associate Directo Executive Summary In April 2019 the New York State Legislature passed a suite of criminal justice reforms that went into effect on January 1, 2020. The reforms included significant changes in police officers’ discretion to make custodial arrests, which lead people to be detained for up to 24 hours by law (and longer for those arrested on weekends or holidays in some counties) . In almost all misdemeanors and many Class E felonies, the new law directed police to issue desk appearance tickets (DATs), which allow people to return home and appear for their arraignment at a later date. The same set of reforms also restricted judges’ discretion in setting bail or detaining people at arraignment; they were directed to release people under recognizance, supervision, or conditions on most cases involving misdemeanor and non-violent felony charges. In this report we examine the implementation and impact of DAT reform in a sample of New York’s Town and Village Justice Court jurisdictions. The state’s approximately 1,200 Justice Courts were established in counties’ suburban and rural towns outside incorporated cities. Justice Courts perform the same functions as City Courts: arraignment of felony, misdemeanor, and violation charges arising within their geographic boundaries, bail and release decisions in those cases, and adjudication and sentencing in misdemeanor and violation charges. This report investigated the use of DATs in sample of arrests made in Justice Courts located in six counties: two largely suburban counties that include mid-sized cities, and four largely rural counties that are each home to one or two small cities. Our analysis of arrests and DAT issuance rates from 2018 to 2022 suggests the following. Contextual Changes in Arrests and the Composition of Charges • Declining Arrests in the 6 Counties Studied: The numbers of arrests in all classes of offenses declined from 2018 to 2022. The decline in arrests during 2020 was followed by a rebound in 2021; yet when arrest rates largely stabilized in 2021 and 2022, they did so at levels significantly lower than in 2018. This decline was most marked in misdemeanor arrests. • Small Number of Common Charges: A small number ofspecific offense charges (13) account for about 75% of all arrests. Among misdemeanors in particular, the most common arrest charges in these suburban and rural jurisdictions were driving while intoxicated (40%), drug possession (16%), and petty larceny (9%) . Changes in DAT Issuance • Lack of Apparent Changes Linked to Reform: Despite the intent of DAT reform, there is little evidence of an overall increase in DAT issuance in misdemeanor arrests – about 75% resulted in a DAT across all 6 counties throughout the 2018-to-2022 study timeframe. However, DAT rates in Class E felonies (a target of reform) and Class D felonies (not a target of reform) both increased substantially over time. These increases in DAT use in E and D felonies appear to have begun prior to January 2020 – raising the possibility that pre-existing trends of fewer custodial arrests, and not the DAT reforms per se, may largely explain these patterns. • Results Varied by County: Context matters. The six counties demonstrated different patterns of DAT usage. In misdemeanor arrests, DAT rates increased (albeit modestly) in three counties, decreased in one county, and remained stable in the other two counties. Overlapping Policy Changes Ensuring Access to Counsel in Justice Courts: DAT reform took effect in the midst of another statewide reform: ensuring t

FAQs

What is the Desk Appearance Ticket (DAT) reform being studied?

The report examines reforms that directed police, in most misdemeanors and many Class E felonies, to issue desk appearance tickets so people can return home and appear for arraignment later.

What happened to overall arrest numbers from 2018 to 2022 in the six studied counties?

Arrests declined across all classes of offenses from 2018 to 2022, with a rebound in 2021 after a 2020 decline, but the later levels remained significantly below 2018.

Did DAT issuance rates increase overall after the reform took effect in 2020?

The report finds little evidence of an overall increase in DAT issuance for misdemeanor arrests; about 75% of misdemeanor arrests resulted in a DAT across the 2018–2022 period.

Sep 17, 2026

Uploaded by Aurora