Andrew Offered Job As Community Corrections Director
January 14, 2020 at 4:48 a.m.
By Amanda [email protected]
That position was offered to him after he was recommended by Kosciusko County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Hampton during the KCCC Advisory Board meeting.
Andrew has 17 years of county experience, Hampton cited, and has been serving as the interim director since the resignation of former director Anna Bailey Nov. 20.
New participants to the program were halted for 30 days while the department tried to reorganize after Bailey and her assistant, Taylor Pagan, were charged with felonies for violating policies and procedures.
Currently, Andrew said, the program has about 90 participants and 20 in drug court. In 2019, 109 participants successfully completed the program, and 21 unsuccessfully completed the program. Andrew said unfortunately he’s unable to cite specifics as to why those 21 people failed because the documentation for them was not done properly.
In 2019, the user fee account had a carry-over from 2018 in the amount of $740,889.11. 2019 user fees generated $591,950.57, for a total of $1,332,839.68. The program spent $218,420.40 in 2019, leaving an end-of-year balance of $1,114,419.28.
Andrew said that when the program reopened its doors on Jan. 6, around 75 applications were filed.
“There’s not lack of business for the program, but we don’t have enough staff to accommodate them all,” he said. “My guess is we’ll have to create a waiting list.”
KCCC allows people who qualify and get accepted to the program to serve their sentence on home detention while completing other requirements such as counseling or therapy. Currently, there are two full-time home detention officers and one full-time drug court officer.
Andrew said during the 30-day freeze, he spent most of that time with his staff restructuring the admission process, including the applications.
“One of the saddest things I’ve encountered during this time is the staff there were not allowed to do their jobs,” he said.
Andrew said getting the program on solid footing to move forward and allowing the staff to do their jobs and provide consistency to the program and its participants, was a goal that he believes they’ve achieved.
Kosciusko Circuit Court Judge Mike Reed will remain as chair of the KCCC Advisory Board; Tony Garza will remain as vice chair; and Kara Shively – a juvenile probation department officer – was voted in as temporary secretary. An administrative assistant position will be filled.
Andrew was asked if the position and workload is too much for one person to handle as a director. Andrew said absolutely not.
“It was lack of duty. It was just not being done.It’s a fairly simple system to manage,” Andrew said.
Hampton thanked Andrew for stepping up as interim director and doing everything he has for the county. Others echoed that sentiment and said they’ve already noticed the relationship has changed for the better since Andrew took over.
If Andrew accepts the position, the terms of his employment will go before the Kosciusko County Commissioners for approval.
That position was offered to him after he was recommended by Kosciusko County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Hampton during the KCCC Advisory Board meeting.
Andrew has 17 years of county experience, Hampton cited, and has been serving as the interim director since the resignation of former director Anna Bailey Nov. 20.
New participants to the program were halted for 30 days while the department tried to reorganize after Bailey and her assistant, Taylor Pagan, were charged with felonies for violating policies and procedures.
Currently, Andrew said, the program has about 90 participants and 20 in drug court. In 2019, 109 participants successfully completed the program, and 21 unsuccessfully completed the program. Andrew said unfortunately he’s unable to cite specifics as to why those 21 people failed because the documentation for them was not done properly.
In 2019, the user fee account had a carry-over from 2018 in the amount of $740,889.11. 2019 user fees generated $591,950.57, for a total of $1,332,839.68. The program spent $218,420.40 in 2019, leaving an end-of-year balance of $1,114,419.28.
Andrew said that when the program reopened its doors on Jan. 6, around 75 applications were filed.
“There’s not lack of business for the program, but we don’t have enough staff to accommodate them all,” he said. “My guess is we’ll have to create a waiting list.”
KCCC allows people who qualify and get accepted to the program to serve their sentence on home detention while completing other requirements such as counseling or therapy. Currently, there are two full-time home detention officers and one full-time drug court officer.
Andrew said during the 30-day freeze, he spent most of that time with his staff restructuring the admission process, including the applications.
“One of the saddest things I’ve encountered during this time is the staff there were not allowed to do their jobs,” he said.
Andrew said getting the program on solid footing to move forward and allowing the staff to do their jobs and provide consistency to the program and its participants, was a goal that he believes they’ve achieved.
Kosciusko Circuit Court Judge Mike Reed will remain as chair of the KCCC Advisory Board; Tony Garza will remain as vice chair; and Kara Shively – a juvenile probation department officer – was voted in as temporary secretary. An administrative assistant position will be filled.
Andrew was asked if the position and workload is too much for one person to handle as a director. Andrew said absolutely not.
“It was lack of duty. It was just not being done.It’s a fairly simple system to manage,” Andrew said.
Hampton thanked Andrew for stepping up as interim director and doing everything he has for the county. Others echoed that sentiment and said they’ve already noticed the relationship has changed for the better since Andrew took over.
If Andrew accepts the position, the terms of his employment will go before the Kosciusko County Commissioners for approval.
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092