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County community corrections and drug court face reduced state grants; staff shifts and fund transfers discussed
Summary
Directors reported cuts to state grants (IDOC, IOPS) for community corrections, pretrial and drug court programs; managers said they would move some salaries into other county funds (user fees, CNR) and seek alternative revenue including TRex collections and possible lobbying support.
Wyatt Madden, director of DuBois County Community Corrections, said the department’s project income and state grant funding are down for 2026. Madden reported a reduction in Indiana Department of Corrections grant support of about $130,150 across grants and a separate cut in other grant lines (IOPS and IDOC) that had funded pretrial and drug court staff.
Madden said he adjusted budgets by moving staff salary and benefits between project income, grants and county funds, and he reduced the department’s health insurance line to zero in the project income budget with the expectation the county’s CNR tax and other allocations would cover the insurance for affected staff. He also reported that GPS monitoring costs rose because the office placed more defendants on GPS monitoring last year but stated those costs are offset by user fees paid by participants.
Commissioners discussed the risk that further state cuts could occur and the possibility of engaging a lobbyist or state association to advocate for community corrections funding. Department staff said they will seek ways to increase project income (for example, TRex collections) and noted that program income rarely covers full salaries for positions.
No final appropriation changes were made at the meeting; commissioners asked staff to present a more detailed plan on how grant reductions will be covered before formal adoption of the budget.
