Advisory board approves slate of 2026 justice grant applications and a contract amendment

The Marion County Community Questions Advisory Board on March 20 approved a series of 2026 grant application submissions for courts, corrections and public-safety programs and amended a contract for language services.

The approvals included requests to submit Justice Reinvestment Grant (JRG) or similar applications for the mental health court and veterans court, the sheriff's jail treatment program, probation and pretrial services, drug treatment and reentry courts, the prosecutor's felony diversion program, and community corrections (community supervision and work release). The board also approved an amendment to a county contract with a language-service vendor, increasing it by $20,000 and extending its term to August 2025.

Why it matters: The approvals clear the agencies to seek state grant funding for calendar year 2026 programs that county staff say fund front-line treatment, supervision and services for people involved in the criminal-justice system. Several presenters told the board that these grants fund staff positions, drug testing, electronic monitoring and other direct services that they said are central to program operations.

Votes at a glance - Amendment to ACC Indie language-services contract: approved. Action: increase contract by $20,000 and extend term through August 2025. (Presenter: Deanna Cantrell, program manager, Community Corrections.) - Mental health court/Jail treatment grant application: approved. (Presenter: Lindsey Connor, court coordinator.) Requested amount for the mental health court reported in the meeting: $424,400; veterans court: $170,445. - Marion County Sheriff's Office jail treatment (behavioral management) program: approved. Requested budget presented: $274,275. (Presenter: Britney Gore, senior finance specialist, Marion County Sheriff's Office.) - Marion County Superior Court ' Pretrial and probation grant applications: approved. (Presenter: Christine Carroll, Marion County Superior Court probation department.) Pretrial request: board was told it would request the same funding level as 2024; the transcript contained a conflicting figure when read aloud and the exact request as stated by the presenter was not specified in a single clear numeric line in the record. - Alternative courts (Drug Treatment Court and Reentry/Residential Court) 2026 grant applications: approved. Drug court requested $305,372; the reentry/residential request was presented as $270,260. (Presenter: Jeffrey Yonas.) - Marion County Prosecutor's Office felony diversion program: approved to submit; requested amount presented as $219,050. (Presenter: Lucas Meekamp.) - Marion County Community Corrections (community supervision and work release): approved to submit; total request presented as $7,397,456.22 (Justin Garcia, chief financial officer) and broken out in meeting remarks as approximately $4,246,752.50 for community supervision and $3,150,703.72 for work release.

Board procedure and outcome: For each item the board took a motion, the chair called for a second and then took a voice vote. For the items recorded on the transcript the chair called for "Aye," heard no opposition and declared the measures passed. The record does not include roll-call vote tallies or named yes/no votes for each motion.

What presenters said (selected) "The contract actually does not expire until August, but we are amending it now to increase it by $20,000 to get us through to August," said Deanna Cantrell, identified as program manager for Marion County Community Corrections, describing the ACC Indie language-services amendment.

Lindsey Connor, court coordinator, told the board: "We're requesting a total of $424,400 for the mental health court. This is our primary funding source." She described that Series 100 covers coordinator salary portions, Series 300 covers drug testing and related contracts, and said the veterans court request totals $170,445.

Britney Gore, senior finance specialist with the Marion County Sheriff's Office, described the jail behavioral management program and said the office requested $274,275 to continue the program that screens and provides case management, group and individual treatment while people are incarcerated and coordinates post-release connections.

Procedure notes and missing details - Several presenters read figures aloud; in at least one instance (the Superior Court pretrial request) the number read by the presenter in the meeting transcript was unclear or conflicted with surrounding phrasing. The meeting record did not include named roll-call votes or counts for these motions; outcomes were recorded by voice vote as "aye" with no recorded opposition. - The board consistently approved the agencies' requests to submit grant applications. Approval to submit an application does not guarantee state funding; presenters and board members noted that final award amounts and recurring funding are determined by the granting entity and later local budget processes.

Ending The advisory board moved through the agenda items and closed the session after taking routine approvals and welcoming a new board member. The approvals permit county agencies to proceed with Justice Reinvestment and related grant applications for 2026 and to execute a short-term contract increase for language services.