SUMMARY OF KEY FUNDING/SERVICE ISSUES
County Probation is a cost-effective alternative to incarceration for the County Court (misdemeanor/criminal traffic) and the Circuit Court (felonies reduced to misdemeanors). Officers monitor completion of probation conditions for over 5,000 sentenced offenders, each year, and provide the court with presentence investigation reports, as requested. Standard conditions of probation include maintaining gainful employment, reporting to probation monthly, paying restitution , cost of supervision fees and fines/court costs, and incurring no new law violations. Judges also order "special conditions" - pertinent to the offense - in most cases. Staff refers probationers to appropriate counseling agencies for drug, alcohol and mental health treatment, as well as numerous self-help classes, in an attempt to provide the offender with the opportunity to receive help in recognizing and overcoming any problems, or thought processes, which led to their involvement with the criminal justice system.
Restitution is collected for the victims, as ordered by the Court, and is always the first priority in collection. In addition, officers collected over $1,038,000.00 in cost of supervision fees and over $1,100,000.00 in fines/court costs this past year. COS collections alone ($40.00 per month, per offender) reduced the cost, to the taxpayer, of supervising offenders to approximately $.83 per day.
Officers are scheduled/verified completion of over 95,000 hours of community service, which resulted in more then $612,000.00 worth of labor or worksites operated by city, county, and non-profit agencies. Offenders not only pay for the privilege of being on probation, but are also given the opportunity to "pay back" the community via completion of community service projects
The Alternative Community Service (ACS) Program began in 2005 as a partnership with the Clerk of Court's Fine Enforcement Department, which was created to improve the collection of court ordered fines and court costs. Over the years, many fines had been reduced to judgment lien, and never collected, as there was no system (unless the offender was placed on Probation) to pursue payment. With the new program, the defendant is expected to pay fines/court costs in full on the day of sentencing, or agree to a stringent payment plan, not to exceed 60-90 days. If the defendant is deemed truly unable to pay, he or she is referred to the Alternative Community Service Officer to schedule and complete an appropriate number of work hours in lieu of the monies owed. This allows the individual the opportunity to work off their fine thus fulfilling the order of the Court.
This past fiscal year, the ACS officer received 876 new referrals from the Clerk's staff. Offenders were referred to a non-profit or governmental agency to provide needed labor for the organization, and their completed work cards were verified. Individuals in this program completed 32,036 hours of community service, which represented $205,030.00 worth of fines/court costs that otherwise would have been collected.
The Electronic Monitoring Program began in December 2005, at the recommendations of Public Safety Coordinating Council, to assist in reducing jail overcrowding. Individuals charged with felony violation of probation, who have been ordered into a residential substance abuse treatment program, are usually held in jail until there is an opening. County Probation partnered with the Circuit Court and the Department of Corrections to monitor up to 25 select offenders,per officer, via Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. These individuals are released from jail, on electronic monitoring, and placed on a form of "house arrest" that requires the permission of the Electronic Monitoring Officer and the felony probation officer prior to leaving the home for any reason. They are required to pay $40.00 per week, to defray the cost of this program to the taxpayer, and must also comply with any previously ordered felony probation conditions. In the first 9 1/2 months of this program, 164 offenders served 4571 days on electronic monitoring, rather then being incarcerated, which resulted in a savings of approximately $124,233.40 in jail costs.
The DUI Drug Court Probation Program began in October 2006 as the probation component to DUI Drug Court, a pilot program funded by the State of Florida Department of Transportation Highway Safety Grant. The officer will ultimately supervise approximately 50 repeat DUI offenders. The DUI Court program works to reduce DUI recidivism by using a coordinated approach including on-going judicial supervision, intensive community supervision, treatment, alcohol screening and community involvement. Each participant's case is staffed weekly before the DUI Court team, and all team members work together to support each participant's success. The five-phased DUI Court program lasts approximately 12 months. The probation officer supervises all standard conditions of probation, as well as those specific to the DUI Court offenders, and makes regular field visits, as well as participating in "bar sweeps" initiated by local law enforcement.
County Probation also serves as staff support to the Anti-Drug Abuse Advisory Council, which participates in the allocation of approximately $200,000.00 in federal grant funds used to implement projects designed to reduced the production, transfer and use the controlled substances. These funds have allowed local units of government, throughout Polk County, the opportunity to start projects such as SAVE, DARE, COPS Camp, drug interdiction units, K-9 units and in-jail drug treatment. |