The Marshall County Council members held a jail information public meeting Monday night where several representatives of law enforcement and the judicial system spoke about their role in the process and how measures are being taken to keep down the jail population to help alleviate a jail overcrowding situation.
The meeting was held so the public can hear more about what the officials are facing with the overcrowding situation at the Marshall County Jail. A lot of the issue has to do with inmates waiting for the resolution of their misdemeanor or felony cases and cannot post a cash bond.
Community Corrections Director Ward Byers explained that Criminal Rule 26 was implemented on Jan. 1 of this year, but they’ve been utilizing the elements of that law for the past three years in an effort to keep down the jail population and to help move along the process in the judicial system.
“We use the Indiana risk assessment pre-trial tool, as well as mental health and substance abuse screeners to help give the courts information they need to assist them with any pre-trial bond reduction or release decisions that they make,” informed Byers.
He added that not too many offenders qualify and a lot of those who qualify have bonded out of jail or are in the process of doing so.
The offenders that become clients of Community Corrections are allowed to be there as determined by the court.
Once an offender is placed on pre-trial release with certain terms, his department helps that person make sure he or she doesn’t miss court dates. Byers pointed to what Prosecutor Nelson Chipman said in his presentation in that failure to appear for court hearings is the number one reason why people are in the jail now.
“We have an app that sends text messages to our clients reminding them of court dates. It allows them to communicate with us through a secure app through our GPS provider. In some cases, if the court requires GPS monitoring we put them on that.”
The court system also has ways to remind offenders of court dates.
He also says Community Corrections can also recommend substance abuse and mental health treatment, but sometimes it takes a while for treatment to become a part of an offender’s life.
“Treatment doesn’t always work on the first round. Sometimes it’s two, three, and four treatment rounds, or treatment exposure, before that finally works and that individual is finally on the road to recovery and sobriety. Sometimes that means they have to end up going to prison. Sometimes that means they go to in-patient treatment and other time it means community-based supervision and community substance abuse and mental health providers are able to make that happen.”
In addition, Byers said the Community Corrections program has been successful in helping offenders find employment so the offender can have a sense of financial stability, receive the treatment they need and get on the road to productive citizenship.
This is just one of a few aspects that will be featured in more detail during the Maximum Impact program this Sunday, Jan. 12 at noon on MAX 98.3 FM. In tomorrow’s news, we’ll touch more on what is proposed in the 320-bed addition to the existing Marshall County Jail to alleviate the overcrowding issue.
