Marshall County reports stable jail population, new hires and certification work; drug court celebrates five graduates

At the October meeting of the Marshall County Community Corrections Advisory Board and JRAC, staff reported current caseload statistics, personnel changes, and program activity including an upcoming certification site visit and a recent drug court graduation.

Director and program staff reported 126 people currently supervised by Community Corrections, of whom about 120 were described as on GPS monitoring and nine listed as pretrial placements in conversation; staff said the facility has seen an uptick in administrative supervision after orders from Judge Sarverberg and Judge Aldrich. Staff also reported PI fund and grant balances: the grant fund was described as low (reported at about $3,800) and the PI fund balance was read as $661,825; staff said the quarter generated roughly $9,000 in fees and that $83,000 had been collected in fees year-to-date. Staff cautioned that some levy amounts listed for individuals reflect the total sentence and may not reflect current collectible amounts in a given period.

On staffing, the board was told the probation office hired Owen Bachman (named in the meeting) who was transferred from Community Corrections into the probation position; the office is also recruiting for a family support services counselor at the masteras level. The board received a reminder that a site visit from Indiana Court Services (IOCS) is scheduled for Dec. 5 for provisional certification and that staff are preparing policy materials for that review.

Staff also provided program updates: cooperation with Kosciusko County on JCAP programming was noted, and the sheriffas office described the jail population as relatively steady over the past five years. DCS staff attendance was noted and county CASA was reported to be transitioning to become a county department. The drug court team reported five participants graduated at a ceremony the prior week; staff described substantial post-program improvements for several graduates, including stable transitional housing and employment.

The board received notice that staff will continue policy and rules-book revisions and will bring suggested changes to the board early next year, including recommended updates to the user-fee policy if the subcommittee returns with a proposal.

Votes at a glance: The advisory board approved the minutes from the previous meeting on a motion moved by Chipman and seconded by Commissioner Hartman; the motion passed without recorded opposition.