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Probation director says local validation of pretrial assessment saved jail days and roughly $200,000
Summary
Bannock County probation director Evie McCur told commissioners the county’s locally validated public safety assessment has, in preliminary results, reduced jail bed days by about 5.5 per case (an estimated 1,375 bed days over three years) and is projected to save roughly $200,000; she also outlined operational changes including a GPS provider switch and quarterly case audits.
Evie McCur, director of probation and pretrial for Bannock County, told commissioners on June 9 that the county is in the validation phase of a locally validated public safety assessment and that preliminary analysis over the past three years shows an average savings of about 5.5 jail bed days per case. "That is estimated about 1,375 jail bed days saved," McCur said, adding that she verified the trend with "Sheriff Manu." She estimated those reductions have translated into roughly $200,000 in savings over three years.
McCur said the assessment was implemented about three years ago to keep lower-risk people out of jail and hold higher-risk people accountable. She described the validation work as being coordinated with the state Supreme Court and said she plans to publish the validation results later this year and collaborate with the court on public dissemination.
On operations, McCur said probation firearms and training have been aligned with the sheriff’s department and that the office plans to switch GPS monitoring providers from a device-based system to SCRAM’s app-based option. "It would actually be about half of the price," she said, estimating roughly $20,000 in annual savings from the provider change; county legal review and contracts are underway. McCur also described a new case-management framework to be audited quarterly to better target individual needs and improve consistency across probation officers.
Commissioners asked about re-entry supports and how the probation office helps clients stay employed. McCur said case management will address barriers such as transportation, literacy and job skills and cited examples where matching people to specific employer roles aided reintegration. She told the board that current caseloads are lower than in past years, which she said provides an opportunity to implement more individualized supervision.
Next steps McCur outlined include finishing validation and coordinating publication with the Supreme Court, completing the GPS contracting process, and rolling out quarterly audits of case management. The commission did not take a separate vote on these operational updates; McCur requested follow-up coordination with county staff and the sheriff’s office.
