JANESVILLE
Rock Countyâs pretrial services program is brushing up against its capacity, but local officials are hopeful the court system will flow more smoothly after being slowed down because of COVID-19.
The program, which is less than a year old, has 152 participants as of Monday, a figure that was shared Thursday during a meeting of the countyâs Evidence-Based Decision Making Committee.
Michael Gutjahr of JusticePoint, the group that runs the pretrial services program for Rock County, said Thursday that they have enough resources to handle 165 cases and perhaps a handful more.
As The Gazette reported previously, Rock County Court officials finished 31% fewer criminal cases in 2020 when compared to 2019. One judge theorized that not having jury trials meant there was one less incentive to finish cases in a timely manner.