Community corrections seeks new GPS vendor to expand victim safety features; commissioners approve grant support letter

Boone County Director of Community Corrections Michael Nance asked commissioners to approve a vendor change for the county's offender GPS program and to sign a letter of support for the county's IDOC community corrections grant application.

Vendor change: Nance explained the office has used the vendor BI but recommends moving to a vendor called Buddy. He said Buddy's equipment includes a victim‑portable device that can alert a victim when a monitored person is within a configured distance, which would improve protections in domestic‑violence cases. Nance also said the Buddy devices are physically more durable and more comfortable for some clients, reducing device breakage and associated replacement costs. He said the GPS program carries no direct county cost because clients pay daily GPS fees.

Grant letter of support: Nance told the board that the county submits five separate IDOC grant components annually as part of the community corrections contract. He presented the grant packet and said the total request across components in the package is roughly $875,000; those are state grant dollars administered through the Department of Correction and make up about one‑third of his office's budget. The board approved a motion to sign the required letter of support for the IDOC/community corrections grant package.

Why it matters: The vendor change is intended to expand victim‑safety capabilities for GPS monitoring in domestic violence cases while keeping costs to the county neutral. The grant supports county reentry and community corrections programs and supplies a significant portion of the department's operating budget.

Outcome: The board approved both requests by voice vote. Nance said he had been in discussions with the new vendor for months and felt the switch would benefit clients and program operations.