The Marshall County Commissioners have taken a step to transition a Marshall County service to a new department.
During Monday morning’s meeting, an ordinance was presented that effectively moves the Court Services department to a Community Corrections program. Marshall County is one of four in the state that still does not do this, but has been working for some time to make the switch happen.
Court Services Director Ward Byers says communication with other departments can enhance the services.
“We can workout programming with the Sheriff’s Department, we can work out programming with the Probation department,” says Byers.
Indiana transitioned Level 6 felons to the county level, meaning services are expected to be provided to those inmates in the form of behavior modifications and education that hopes to lower the risk of recidivism.
The state of Indiana provides grant funds to help provide the additional services. Marshall County is eligible for $245-thousand. In addition to transitioning the program, an Advisory Board would also be set-up to help manage the newly placed court services programs.
Byers says many of the offenders experience drug issues, meaning they would continue to provide many of their current services.
“We would utilize services that we currently utilize in our community such as the Bowen Center, Eric Fosters, that type of thing to give them the recovery that they need,” says Byers. “We assist folks with their employment issues as we currently do now, we would continue to do with referrals to WorkOne.”
The Commissioners suspended the rules to pass the ordinance on all three readings.
A proposed list of board members was provided to the Commissioners with members approving the list as well. Grant funds would soon go toward providing additional services for inmates in Marshall County.
