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Last updated on Tuesday, December 30, 2014
(MONROE CO.) - Monroe County officials are beginning work on a program they hope will reduce the number of people in the county’s jail and get more people into home detention and community correction programs in an effort to save money and jail space.
WFIU reports that the Indiana Supreme Court is keeping an eye the Monroe County program to see if it is a system that can be expanded statewide.
Using a $40,000 grant from the Indiana Supreme Court, the Monroe Circuit Court Probation Department will start what they are calling the pretrial release program. Probation officers, judges and prosecutors will meet in January to determine how the program will work. The county has two years to spend the grant money.
The goal is for probation officer to meet with low-level offenders for a screening process, then recommending whether they should be released to home detention or another community corrections program instead of being kept in jail while waiting for their trail date or sentencing.
Monroe Circuit Court Chief Probation Officer Linda Brady says , the probation department will also invest in computer systems that will use an automated call system to phone offenders and remind them to show up to their court or probation appointments.
If the program is successful, the Indiana Supreme Court could implement similar measures across the state.
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