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Clay County probation office reports rising felony, domestic‑assault and drug caseloads
Summary
At the Clay County Board of Commissioners meeting March 25, probation staff reported multi‑year increases in felony, domestic‑assault and drug‑related cases and outlined new programs including a DWI court, cognitive‑behavioral groups and a case‑planning roadmap.
Dale Arnold, representing the Department of Corrections probation services, told the Clay County Board of Commissioners on March 25 that the office has seen steady increases in supervision caseloads since 2020, with marked growth in felony cases, domestic‑assault and drug‑related files.
Arnold said Clay County’s population has risen “by roughly a thousand people” since 2020 and that pandemic‑era effects likely contributed to changing caseloads. He reported that domestic‑assault open probation cases rose from about 200 in 2020 to about 400 in 2024 and that drug‑related open cases rose from roughly 321 in 2021 to 467 in 2024. “Those make up the majority or the bulk of cases that we supervise,” Arnold said.
The presentation placed the increases in context and described agency responses. Arnold described an expanded set of programs and staffing changes intended to target medium‑ and high‑risk clients: a new Clay County DWI Court (started Feb. 5), a drug court, additional specialized agents and group cognitive‑behavioral programs. He said the county is one of three in the state participating in an impaired‑driving assessment (IDA) pilot to supplement the LSCMI risk tool for DWI clients, because the LSCMI is not well suited to predicting DWI risk alone.
Arnold provided additional statistics from his slides, including an increase in pre‑sentence investigations (PSIs) from 333 in 2020 to 402 in 2024 and a 2024 count of 109 people active on probation caseloads who were experiencing homelessness. He also briefed the board on supervised‑release and intensive supervised release (ISR) figures, noting the ISR population in Clay County rose from roughly 20 in 2020 to over 50 in 2024.
On program design he said the office is emphasizing evidence‑based approaches. “We assess risk on every client on supervision,” Arnold said, referencing the LSCMI, and described a new case‑planning roadmap introduced in 2024 that sets an eight‑step guide from engagement to discharge and emphasizes targeted interventions and group programming where appropriate.
Arnold described two cognitive‑behavioral offerings now in the county: Decision Points (an 8–10 session open enrollment program) and Moving On (about 26 weekly sessions targeted to adult women). He said four agents are trained to run Decision Points and three are trained for Moving On. He also described coaching and fidelity measures for agents, including session recordings for supervision and skill feedback.
Commissioners asked about recidivism and ISR. Arnold said Clay County’s three‑year recidivism outcomes compare favorably to state averages for probation and parole: for one three‑year window he cited roughly 87.6 percent of probation clients remaining felony‑free versus an 85 percent statewide average, and about 77.6 percent for parole cases versus a 70 percent statewide average. He said he did not have complete data on individuals who fail to complete ISR but that the department tracks those who complete ISR and come under local supervision.
Arnold also described a newly formed internal domestic‑violence committee charged with developing a reunification process that emphasizes victim safety and sets steps for perpetrators and victims when a no‑contact order is considered for removal. He said victim input and written requests to lift protections would be part of any such review.
The presentation closed with staff‑and‑program details: six office administrative staff, a new DWI court agent, one drug‑court agent, three high‑risk agents, one pretrial agent, five medium/low risk agents, two juvenile agents, two gross‑misdemeanor/misdemeanor agents, one sentenced‑to‑service agent and three ISR agents working out of the office. Arnold said the department also participates in a statewide coaching program to strengthen delivery of motivational interviewing and interventions.
The board did not take formal action on the report; commissioners thanked Arnold and staff and discussed upcoming pressures related to ISR and potential increases in releases to community supervision.
