Article submitted by Jamie Fleury, The Pilot News Staff Writer
Marshall County Community Corrections Director Ward Byers recently updated the Marshall County Community Corrections Advisory Board and JRAC members on new case laws that went into effect in July.
He explained that some of the changes pertain to the difference between “direct commitment” and “unsuspended executed sentence”; changing the use of that language and what it actually means. Marshall County Courts do not use the term “direct commitment”. They use “placement in Community Corrections at a level deemed appropriate based on risk.” Currently, Byers did not see a need to make changes to the language locally but will be watching for further direction.
The second relevant change was the “vulnerable victim statute”. He explained that a vulnerable victim is defined as anyone who is protected with a protective order. There are now time periods where law enforcement is notified if communication is lost with the person that is being supervised. Loss of communication includes a loss of GPS signal to the device or cellular signal. Community Corrections is obligated to first verify where the person is and locate them. If they are not in violation of the protective order it just needs documented. The challenge arises with clients who lose signal when they enter a manufacturing facility to report for work. Community Corrections has 15 minutes to notify law enforcement when an individual cannot be located or verified. Law enforcement has to put out information to all working officers. A warrant must be sought and served within another specified and limited period of time.
Byers has created internal policy to address the issue.
