ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Lehigh County commissioners last week approved a nearly $1 million annual contract with Lehigh Valley Pretrial Services Inc., a company that administers the county’s bail system, does background investigations for the court system and provides other services.
But amid a call for transparency, not all commissioners seemed satisfied with the decision.
- Lehigh County commissioners approved a $957,000 contract for bail services from third party vendor, Lehigh Valley Pretrial Services Inc.
- County Controller Mark Pinsley has expressed concerns that his office has been unable to audit the vendor and has sought additional transparency for years
- At a recent meeting, some commissioners expressed concern the board seemingly had little say over the terms of the contract
Commissioner Dave Harrington, who abstained from voting on the contract because he is an attorney, said Pretrial Services Inc. is a third party, which means it’s not a county agency and doesn't allow commissioners as much transparency as he'd like.
“We need to know that there are procedural regularities in place," Harrington said. "If someone were to come to me and say, ‘I believe that in Lehigh County, people of color are more likely to have a higher bail set than a white defendant,’ I would not have the data to refute that to that individual.
"And, to me, that doesn’t sit well."
Under state law, a county must have a designated bail bond agency, determined by county court, through the president judge, Harrington said.
Several other counties, he said, have the services done "in-house."
“It is a quirk of our history that we have a third-party vendor that does these services,” he said.
Since 1984, Lehigh Valley Pretrial Services Inc., has served as the county’s bail agency.
And while commissioners can’t select the vendor for the services, they do have to approve the contract to afford the services.
Harrington said that if commissioners vote no on the contract, he worried they could violate state law.
“I’m wondering why it comes in front of the board if we don’t have a choice in whether or not we approve it,” he said.
"If I thought the commissioners had a say in selecting the designated bail bond agency, I would pass requirements of transparency, so we could answer questions if there’s bias in the system. So we could answer questions if some folks are disproportionately being detained pre-trial.”
County Controller Mark Pinsley also expressed concerns with the contract, as in a letter he sent to County Executive Phil Armstrong and President Judge J. Brian Johnson.
In that letter, Pinsley argued that, because Lehigh Valley Pretrial Services Inc. is a third-party vendor, he is unable to audit it the way he can other county agencies.
“The controller's office has sought additional visibility into this agency for nearly three years," Pinsley wrote. "To date, the efforts of the controller's office to audit have been thwarted."
Yet during a meeting last week, Lehigh County Court Administrator Kerry R. Turtzo offered details into how Lehigh Valley Pretrial Services Inc. has performed over the past year.
He said it conducted more than 3,200 interviews with defendants and supervised 1,908 defendants who were released from jail, including 1,186 defendants who were released prior to 2021.
Even with that information, some commissioners were concerned their hands were tied if they wanted to alter the contract or find a new vendor for the services.
“What’s the point of it being here? This is all just theatrical at this point... I don’t understand the point of it being in front of the board if we have no say in it.”Commissioner Zach Cole-Borghi
“What’s the point of it being here? This is all just theatrical at this point,” Commissioner Zach Cole-Borghi said. “I don’t understand the point of it being in front of the board if we have no say in it.”
In the end, commissioners voted 5-3 to approve the contract, with Harrington abstaining.
After the vote, Joseph Welsh, executive director of the Lehigh Valley Justice Initiative, told the board it was put into an “impossible situation."
He called for more dialog between the commissioners and the county’s court system in the future.
“You were asked tonight to enter this county to enter into the contract and you were asked for good faith," he said. "You need good faith in return. You need these other elements of government and this contractor that deals with putting people in jail to show good faith in return for your good faith tonight.”
