Friends and neighbors,

I am pleased to announce that our next session of Community in the Courthouse will begin this Friday, September 26, 2014.  We will meet at 8:30 a.m. in room 0421M (ground floor) of the Prince George’s County Courthouse located on Main Street in Upper Marlboro

This week we will be discussing the “Richmond Decision”, a court ruling that gives criminal defendants who are arrested, a right to counsel at bail hearings. As a result of last year’s ruling, we have started a new Charging Unit within the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office. We believe that if defendants now have to right to have an attorney present when they go before a commissioner, our office should have a presence as well

We now have prosecutors in the jail to help ensure that cases are charged properly. They will also ensure that cases that should not be charged are dismissed on the spot and people who should not be in jail are released. This will help address any issues we have with caseloads – as we handle about 47,000 a year- and will ensure that our prosecutors can focus on legitimate cases moving forward. It will also ensure that people who should not be in jail and end up there because they cannot afford bond on charges that are later dropped, are able to be released.

I am looking forward to a great conversation.  Please consider bringing a friend or neighbor to our meeting.  I would surely be interested in meeting and welcoming all those who are involved in Prince George’s County.

Please RSVP with Michael Summers at mgsummers@co.pg.md.us, so that we can be sure we have enough coffee and light breakfast food for the group!

Sincerely, 

Angela D. Alsobrooks

State’s Attorney