Gary City Court officials presented four grant acceptances and a package of special-revenue budgets to the finance committee on Nov. 6.

Court administration described grants including: a $10,000 award from the Indiana Supreme Court Office of Judicial Administration for chemical analyzer reagents used in the Second Chance program; a $12,833 SAFE (Supporting Addiction Free Environments) grant for reagents and supplies; a $5,000 grant from a regional care group for parenting sessions; and a roughly $500 allocation from the Office of General Counsel to fund interpreter services for defendants with language barriers.

Court staff also walked the committee through multiple special-revenue fund budgets that support probation, judicial fee accounts, the alcohol fund, public defender funding, mediation services and drug court operations. Staff explained salary increases required by state mandates for probation officers and changes to operating budgets tied to projected collections and grant balances.

Committee members asked clarifying questions about grant terms and budget line items and were told the grants vary by cycle and that some funds carry over into the next fiscal year. The court said most of the probation and fee-based funds have sufficient balances and that the grant awards support existing clinical and case-management needs.

Next steps: court grants will be added to the ordinance packet for council acceptance and special-revenue budgets will proceed through the normal adoption process.