The Marshall County Community Corrections Advisory Board recently took action to form a local Justice Reinvestment Advisory Council as part of House Bill 1068.
Community Corrections Director Ward Byers said House Bill 1068, which goes into effect July 1, provides the guidelines for the review of the Community Corrections code in Indiana and what changes need to be made.
“The code was originally put together in the 1980s,” explained Byers. “There have been additions and amendments made to that code, but no repeals have ever been made. So, there is some contradictory language throughout that code.”
Byers said he is on a subcommittee that will go over the code this summer. The subcommittee will then make amendment recommendations to the state’s Justice Reinvestment Advisory Council (JRAC) whose members will take those amendments to the legislature for consideration.
Byers explained House Bill 1068 also sets up a local advisory council.
“The local advisory council is basically a smaller version of the state JRAC. The Justice Reinvestment Advisory Council looks at every aspect of the criminal justice system, mental health, substance abuse – it’s been instrumental in criminal code updates and other pre-trial behavioral health services.”
The local JRAC board will review, evaluate and make recommendations for local criminal justice systems and corrections programs, pretrial services, behavioral health treatment and recovery services, community corrections, and county jail and probation services.
It will also review and evaluate local jail overcrowding and recommend solutions, and compile reports regarding local criminal sentencing as directed by the advisory council.
Byers said these are additional duties for the board members, but the makeup of the board would not change.
In the end, the Community Corrections Advisory Board agreed to merge to the local JRAC and not be two separate boards. Byers said draft bylaws will be sent to the board members and they can be approved at the next meeting.
