MAYVILLE — Much has been said by many vocal officials about their concerns with impending criminal justice reforms. However, Chautauqua County Public Defender Ned Barone believes the opinions of those against such changes are similar to “fear mongering.”

“They make it sound as though there’s going to be all these violent criminals just running around creating problems for everybody and that’s just not true,” Barone told The Post-Journal.

Barone shared his own concerns at a Community Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC) meeting in November.

He reiterated his stance on the matter following a trial in Chautauqua County Court recently.

Under the new bail reform law, most charged with misdemeanors and non-violent felonies will be released under their own recognizance (ROR). Barone believes the change to cashless bail is necessary and “a longtime coming.”

With discovery reform, district attorney offices across New York state will have 15 days to present full discovery evidence in all cases or they will be dismissed. However, Barone noted that exceptions can be made if a district attorney provides a valid reason the office needs more time from the court. Additionally, Barone said that public defender’s offices will also be forced respond to the 15-day requirement.

Specifically calling out the Chautauqua County District Attorney’s Office, Barone said many of the concerns over bail reform are unfounded.

“What concerns me more than anything else is the fear mongering that’s going on on the part of the District Attorney and other district attorneys or law enforcement across the state,” Barone said. “I think that, ultimately, you need to be informed — the community needs to be informed — because the bottom line is that the bail reforms are there to provide equal access for everyone of us individuals that perhaps couldn’t afford post bail.”

In November, state Sen. George Borrello held a press conference calling for the repeal of the coming changes. The conference was attended by Chautauqua County Sheriff James Quattrone, Jamestown Police Chief Harry Snellings, Dunkirk Police Chief David C. Ortolano and Lakewood-Busti Police Chief John Bentley, state Assemblyman Andy Goodell, state Assemblyman Joe Giglio, District Attorney Patrick Swanson, Health and Human Services director Christine Schuyler and Jacqueline Phelps from U.S. Rep. Tom Reed’s office.

There, Borrello described the potential impacts a “public safety issue.”

Swanson, too, was critical of such reforms at the conference, at recent CJCC meetings and at a recent public forum at Jamestown Community College. At the JCC event, Swanson led a presentation that detailed the coming changes and his subsequent concerns.

Under new bail reform, district attorneys are limited to the offenses that they can request bail, Swanson said. He added that more than 400 offenses will soon be considered “non-qualifying” and will not be eligible for bail, with some exceptions. Offenders will be given appearance tickets and released on ROR. Under certain circumstances like violating an order of protection, individuals can have their ROR revoked.

Additionally, Swanson worried about individuals not returning to court in accordance to their appearance ticket.

Citing similar law changes in the state of New Jersey that began in 2017, Barone said crime and incarceration rates have decreased.

“The studies there indicate that not only incarceration decreased substantially, but crime has decreased,” Barone said.

However, Barone added the courts and DA offices will still be able to ask for bail for violent offenders committing violent crimes. The area being addressed, in Barone’s viewpoint, are those who are not threatening the community.

“What’s going to change is the people that are committing all these misdemeanors even the felonies that are unintentional and nonviolent, don’t pose any threat to the community, they’re not going to be able to obtain bail on them unless certain things happen,” Barone said.

The local public defender believes bail reform will correct “an injustice” of being able to require the same bail for the wealthy, the middle class and the poor. He referred to an example of two individuals with the same record who are both charged with possession of stolen property that warranted $5,000 bail under the old system. However, one of the individuals in Barone’s scenario was poor and could not post the bail.

“Just because he’s poor, he can’t post it (bail),” Barone said. “But individual ‘A,’ who has money, is able to post it. So, you’re telling me that because you’re poor you’re going to sit in that jail, but if you’re not poor you’re not going to. Under the new bail reform the court can’t impose a bail on those individuals. So that means individual ‘A’ and individual ‘B’ are both being treated equally.”

On the impacts of jail population, Barone recalled several years ago when, he said, the focus of local politicians and law enforcement was to decrease the numbers of inmates being housed in the county. Now, with bail reform a less than a month away, officials have already reported a decrease in jail population.

“It’s a substantial savings to Chautauqua County. It’s a no brainer,” Barone said.

Barone said the reduction in jail populations can be attributed to a recent requirement of having an attorney at an offender’s first appearance. The burden often falls on the Public Defender’s Office to represent these individuals.

“That’s resulted in less people being placed in custody at the time of arraignment than ever before,” Barone said. “Now these people are no longer going across and sitting in the jail waiting pre sentence. The new bail reform will take that even one step further.”

Addressing discovery reform, Barone said it will require more work for the DA’s and Public Defender’s offices. He added that new requirements are asking that district attorneys provide public defenders with information they have always been entitled to receive but now much quicker.

“It’s a benefit to law enforcement. It’s a benefit to the defense, but no longer is there going to be trial by ambush or us getting things on the eve of trial,” Barone said. “The district attorney is going to have to do some work and put together what they’ve always been required to do.”

Barone believes the discovery change will encourage the resolution of cases “early on rather than have to wait.”