NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — New Orleans District Attorney Jason Williams announced on Thursday that he would be providing an update on 701 charging deadlines that afternoon.
A “701 release” refers to when a jailed person is not charged by a DA in the time legally required, often resulting in the person being released from the facility with no charges.
Williams is responding to a report from the Metropolitan Crime Commission that says his office missed 701 deadlines in 59% of felony cases in 2021.
The DA says that in less than 1% of the cases were suspects actually released from jail. The rest of the time, the suspects had already posted bond.
For more on Williams’ comments, click on the video above.