Community Corrections Looks to 2016 Funding
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Jordan Fouts-
The prison-alternative program for non-violent offenders, those with a level 6 felony and above, is covered entirely by grants from the Indiana Department of Corrections. Kosciusko was one of only a handful of counties that didn’t have a community corrections program when it started it in September 2014.
The $237,000 budget for the fiscal year will cover three full-time employees – a director, home detention officer and secretary, said Barry Andrew, drug court coordinator for the county probation department. He noted the application was first approved in January but changes in state law required some adjustments, including cutting planned components of the program such as juvenile home detention and leaving only adult home detention.
He said the 2017 application for a budget of $356,000 will be due in January. He also noted that though the program is completely dependent on grants, neighboring counties including Whitley have had community corrections for more than 20 years without issues.
Also this morning, commissioners said they are going to review the laws on open burning based on requests they’ve received for a burn ban. Commissioner Bob Conley said a ban is a no-brainer in the instance of a drought, and said he knows the county has experienced some field fires in recent weeks, but short of a blanket ban said he encourages residents to use caution when burning leaves this fall.
And commissioners approved two vacation requests unanimously recommended by Area Plan, one of 16 lots in the Yellow Banks subdivision on Webster Lake and the other four contiguous lots near Lake Wawasee.[[In-content Ad]]
The prison-alternative program for non-violent offenders, those with a level 6 felony and above, is covered entirely by grants from the Indiana Department of Corrections. Kosciusko was one of only a handful of counties that didn’t have a community corrections program when it started it in September 2014.
The $237,000 budget for the fiscal year will cover three full-time employees – a director, home detention officer and secretary, said Barry Andrew, drug court coordinator for the county probation department. He noted the application was first approved in January but changes in state law required some adjustments, including cutting planned components of the program such as juvenile home detention and leaving only adult home detention.
He said the 2017 application for a budget of $356,000 will be due in January. He also noted that though the program is completely dependent on grants, neighboring counties including Whitley have had community corrections for more than 20 years without issues.
Also this morning, commissioners said they are going to review the laws on open burning based on requests they’ve received for a burn ban. Commissioner Bob Conley said a ban is a no-brainer in the instance of a drought, and said he knows the county has experienced some field fires in recent weeks, but short of a blanket ban said he encourages residents to use caution when burning leaves this fall.
And commissioners approved two vacation requests unanimously recommended by Area Plan, one of 16 lots in the Yellow Banks subdivision on Webster Lake and the other four contiguous lots near Lake Wawasee.[[In-content Ad]]
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