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Committee advances bill allowing counties to create community corrections trust funds
Summary
Senate Bill 92 would let counties operating community corrections programs create nonreverting local trust funds with reporting and oversight to sustain programs amid reduced state grant funding; the committee passed the bill as amended with unanimous committee support recorded in the transcript.
Senate Bill 92, sponsored by Senator Clark, would permit counties that operate community corrections programs to voluntarily establish nonreverting trust funds administered by the county auditor to help sustain local supervision, alternatives to incarceration and other program needs.
The sponsor said the fund is a local option with clearly defined uses, built-in accountability and required annual reporting to the county fiscal body and the community corrections advisory board. Ashley Stevens, Rush County director of court services and president of the Indiana Association of Community Corrections Act Counties, said many programs rely heavily on state grants that were reduced and the trust fund provides a modest, transparent tool to offset reductions and reinvest in programs that reduce recidivism.
Stevens provided program context and several quantitative details: she noted estimated per-person costs of incarceration cited in committee discussion (roughly $79 per day in state prison, about $74 per day at county jail) and described the fund's oversight mechanisms.
After committee discussion and a motion to pass as amended, the committee recorded a roll-call vote in favor of the motion (transcript shows 11-0 on the roll). The measure was advanced with the understanding that local oversight and reporting requirements will accompany any county that elects to establish the fund.
The committee asked staff to clarify joint-county arrangements and to supply drafting language where necessary for county-level administration before final action.
