The Delaware judiciary unveiled a new rule Monday aimed at implementing legislation that authorizes the courts to reduce their reliance on pretrial cash bail.

The rule, which is slated to take effect Jan. 1, follows through on a legislative mandate to use an empirical risk-assessment tool to gauge the risk defendants pose to public safety and their likelihood to appear for court dates. In most cases, cash bail will not be required as a condition of pretrial release, and judges will be directed to impose the “least restrictive conditions necessary” to ensure compliance.

“The interim rule is a product of a collaborative effort of all of the courts involved with making bail decisions,” Superior Court President Judge Jan R. Jurden said in a statement. “This is an important reform and we look forward to working with our system partners as we implement this improved approach to pretrial release.”

Monday's announcement was the latest in a series of moves by Delaware policymakers, who are hoping to eliminate cash bail altogether. In June, lawmakers in Dover fell short of passing the first leg of a constitutional amendment, which would have nixed the use of cash bail entirely and allowed those accused of violent crimes to be held, without the possibility of release, before trial.

At the urging of judges, police and correction officers, the General Assembly did approve HB 204 in January, laying the groundwork for the larger overhaul. Under that law, the courts had until the start of the new year to develop a risk-based analysis system that encourages judges to first consider other conditions for pretrial release, such as monitoring and travel restrictions.

The result was the Delaware Pretrial Assessment Tool, or DELPAT, which takes into account the risk of defendants failing to show for court, the threat they pose to the community and the threat to which they might obstruct justice in their cases.

Given the tight timetable, the judiciary said the rule governing DELPAT would be implemented on an interim basis, allowing for feedback and possible adjustments moving forward.

“The rule represents a good faith effort to implement the act in an efficient and equitable manner by the deadline the act imposes,” Delaware Supreme Court Chief Justice Leo E. Strine Jr. said. “The judiciary and its constituents must now pull together to make the act and the rule work as well as possible, and to improve it further based on the experience we gain during the next year.”

The courts said that they would institute an “enhanced system of notifications” to make sure that defendants are frequently reminded of court dates. Under the new rule, more stringent conditions of release could only be implemented upon a special finding by the court; however, if a defendant does fail to appear, judges would have discretion to impose cash bail as a consequence for the violation.

It also identifies serious “signal crimes,” such as violent, sex or drug offenses, for which judges would not need to defer to DELPAT analyses and instead impose other conditions necessary to maintain public safety.

“The risk assessment instrument and the new court rule provide us with an evidence based method to make sound bail decisions in a systematic way,” said Chief Judge Alex J. Smalls of the Court of Common Pleas.

The status of broader bail reform efforts, meanwhile, remains in limbo. Proponents have vowed to reintroduce legislation next year to amend the state constitution and eradicate cash bail. In Delaware, constitutional amendments must pass two consecutive sessions of the General Assembly by a two-thirds majority, meaning that the changes could not go into effect until 2021, at the earliest.