The Judiciary
Prosecutors and the judiciary have a long tradition of collaboration on developing problem solving courts and prosecutor-led diversion initiatives. Judges have long recognized that such programs, particularly where they divert an individual at the earliest possible stage of a case, can help to reduce over-crowded court dockets and more effectively manage a court’s potential workload. This has led some judges to offer judicial resources, such as case management assistance through probation and pretrial services staff and specialized court calendars, to help support such programming even in circumstances where a case has not yet been filed.
The creation of a new prosecutor-led diversion program allows prosecutors and the judiciary to collaborate in developing a broader array of alternative diversion disposition options, one that runs the gamut from the point where a prosecutor receives a referral from the law enforcement to the point where an individual is involved in a pre-adjudication problem solving court. This collaboration can help to improve all of these potential “off ramps” from traditional case processing.