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For years, the overcrowding of Guam’s Department of Corrections (DOC) has been a critical concern for our community. In 2013, the Guam Office of the Public Auditor reported that Guam’s pretrial detainee population was the highest rate in the world with 272 pretrial/remand population per 100,000 of the island’s population. According to the report, there were 449 detainees or individuals awaiting judicial disposition, which accounted for 65% of the prisoner population of approximately 690 total remanded. In recent years, an unprecedented rise in crime led the Guam Legislature to pass several laws that take a tough stance on crime, e.g., mandatory 48-hour confinement for DUI offenses and stricter punishment for home invasions, directly contributing to the overcrowding of the prison. As a result, a Blue Ribbon Commission, comprised of key members of the judicial, criminal justice, legislative, non-government organizations and other community stakeholders was created to address prison overcrowding.

The Judiciary of Guam (JOG) is comprised of the Superior Court of Guam, the court of general jurisdiction, and the Supreme Court of Guam, which is the highest judicial body of the territory and hears appeals from the Superior Court. Seven judges, two magistrate judges and two hearing officers preside over criminal, civil, juvenile, probate, small claims, traffic and child support cases in the Superior Court. Under the JOG’s umbrella is the Probation Services Division, which includes Adult and Juvenile Probation and the Alternative Sentencing Office. The Judiciary operates several therapeutic and specialty courts such as the Adult Drug Court, Juvenile Drug Court, Family Violence Court, Veterans Treatment Court, Mental Health Court, and the Adult Reentry Court Program. In addition to providing core court functions, the Judiciary maintains the following services and systems: criminal history, protection orders, sex offender registry, and other law enforcement systems.

The JOG Probation Services Division’s Pretrial Section is responsible for case management of pretrial defendants, both on orders of conditional release and detained at DOC pending criminal proceedings. The section is comprised of a Probation Officer Supervisor and 10 Probation Officers who manage 1,438 clients; this is an officer-to-client ratio of 1:144.

As you may know, the Judiciary became one of the first jurisdictions in the nation to join the Pretrial Justice Institute’s (PJI) 3DaysCount Campaign. Initial efforts included increasing awareness of our judicial officers, probation officers, and stakeholders on pretrial justice improvement; decreasing the number of pretrial detainees held at the Department of Corrections; implementing the Ohio Risk Assessment System’s (ORAS) Pretrial Assessment Tool (PAT); collecting and analyzing data obtained through the ORAS PAT; and training a magistrate judge and probation staff on pretrial justice improvement through support from the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) and other funders.

Although we are proud of these accomplishments, we continue to struggle with reforming our policies and practices to ensure the best outcomes for our community. Major challenges in this endeavor are obtaining buy-in from key leaders and staff, difficulty with changing practices that have been in place for decades, and low motivation for additional reform work when faced with competing priorities such as high probation caseloads and other reform efforts.

Guam mirrors the federal tax code and because of this, the signing of the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017” into law at the end of 2017 by President Trump is having a negative effect on the Government of Guam’s General Fund revenues, specifically with the reduction in Corporate Withholding Taxes and Individual Income Taxes. The Bureau of Budget and Management Research projects a $153 Million loss in Fiscal Year 2019 across all government branches.

The Judiciary experienced a subsequent decrease in General Fund revenues of approximately $4 Million in Fiscal Year 2018 and was appropriated the same level of funding for Fiscal Year 2019. In response, the Judiciary implemented an austerity plan which involves a number of measures that affect judicial services and programs, including the daily 4:00 PM closure of the intake/filing counters of the Supreme and Superior Court Clerks as well as the intake counter at the Probation Services Division; and the decrease or suspension of locally funded drug testing. In light of these cuts, seeking alternate funding sources is critical to supporting current operations and services.