Sixty-five percent of all defendants facing felony charges are released through PTR, at no personal cost, and have little incentive to appear in court. Until the mid- 1960's, PTR was processed mainly through the private bail system. Publicly funded PTR was established in the late 1960's, is funded by taxes, and is administered through the county's correctional departments. Approximately 30 percent of felons released through PTR fail to appear in court. Nearly 18 percent of those released through PTR are rearrested while awaiting trial; about two-thirds of them are released again through PTR. While PTR is ineffective in reducing crime and upholding the law and adds a burden to taxpayers, private bail has done an excellent job at no cost to the taxpayer. Private bail improves the criminal justice system because the arrested person bears the cost and is adequately supervised. Ninety-eight percent make their court appearance; the government is paid the amount of the bond in cases of nonappearance. Reference notes and text of anti- crime legislation