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News Archive
Criminal code revamp long way from over Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentMay 17, 2013 nwi.com
May 12, 2013 11:00 pm
Susan Brown
CROWN POINT | Despite being signed into law last week, the first revision of the Indiana Criminal Code in decades is far from a done deal.
David Powell, executive director of the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council, said the bill has a long way to go before it can be implemented.
"It clearly can't go into effect without a lot more work," he said Friday.
Powell said the coming months will find much pressure put on stakeholders, including prosecutors, before the law goes into effect on July 1, 2014, a full year longer than typical for new legislation.
Its major features include the expansion of the four levels of felonies to six, the most serious of felons to serve 75 percent of their sentence instead of 50 percent, and low-level felons to serve time in county jails or alternative community corrections programs. Updated criminal code could cost counties Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentMay 17, 2013 nwi.com
May 12, 2013
Bob Kasarda
Porter County Chief Probation Officer Stephen Meyer said the county could be left to pick up part of the tab for the first significant changes to the state's criminal code in decades.
The changes, which in part redefine felony offenses to keep some offenders out of prison, are expected to result in more work for county probation departments, he said.
The Probation Officers' Professional Association of Indiana predicts as many as 800 more probation officers will be needed statewide during the first few years of the changes, which begin taking effect July 1, 2014, he said.
The Porter County office is already facing the challenge of complying with salary increases required by the state, Meyer said. The office is particularly hard hit because it has several veteran officers.
About a third of the office's $1.8 million annual budget is covered by user fees set by the state. Local officials can't increase those fees, but the balance of the budget is funded with county tax dollars, he said.
Lake County Chief Probation Officer Jan Parsons said the changes in state law puts a greater burden on Lake County’s already over-loaded probation officers.
“The worst of the worst will be incarcerated,” Parsons said. “But the rest will be in community corrections or probation.” Tennessee to become one of the last states to arm parole and probation officers Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentMay 17, 2013 WATE.com
May 14, 2013 2:54 PM EDT
By SAMANTHA MANNING
6 News Reporter
KNOXVILLE (WATE) - Probation and parole officers in Tennessee will soon be armed as a result of changes implemented by the state's Department of Correction.
"We're at peril from their actions if we don't arm ourselves and take ourselves seriously," East Tenn. District Director for Probation and Parole Bob Henshaw said.
Henshaw told 6 News he has worked in probation and parole for 36 years and said he knows firsthand of the dangers that come along with the job.
"Everybody we deal with is basically a convicted felon, anywhere from murder down to class E felony theft," Henshaw said. "I can point to two or three times in my career where I felt threatened by the environment that I was in."
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In Indiana, only parole officers fall under the Department of Correction and spokesperson Douglas Garrison said parole officers were given the option of being armed in the late 1990s and nearly half of the roughly 140 parole officers are now armed.
Study Committee To Decide How To Fund Criminal Code Overhaul Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentMay 17, 2013 WFIU
By SARA WITTMEYER
Posted May 14, 2013
The criminal code overhaul that passed this session puts an emphasis on moving low level felons from state prisons to community programs, but a summer study committee will have to decide how to move resources to the local level so communities can implement the new law.
Representative Matt Pierce was a lead on the criminal code evaluation commission that produced the new sentencing structure. Among other things, it focuses on the rehabilitation of low-level offenders.
“Every state that has done this and there have been quite a few have saved hundreds of millions of dollars,” Pierce says.
A summer study committee will attempt to project how much money will be saved by keeping people in local communities in probation programs instead of in the state prison system. It will then consider how to invest money at the local level so there are enough resources to implement successful programs. Courts - "Wrongfully Convicted Often Find Their Record, Unexpunged, Haunts Them" Submitted by Susan Bentley
Title: District 5 RepMay 8, 2013 Some quotes from this long, May 5th story in the NY Times by Jack Healy:
Across much of the country, sealing or clearing a criminal record after a wrongful conviction is a tangled and expensive process, advocates and former prisoners say. It can take years of appeals to courts and pleas to governors to wipe the slate clean. Even then, many felony convictions remain on federal databases and pop up during background checks or at traffic stops.
Aside from the practical challenges — a criminal record can impede big things like finding housing and employment, and smaller things like getting a hunting license — people who have been exonerated say they feel unfairly marked, branded with a scarlet letter from a justice system that should not have locked them up in the first place. * * *
Clearing a criminal record can take years and cost thousands of dollars in legal fees, and differs widely state to state. Many require that defendants return to court to prove their innocence, a higher hurdle than showing that charges were dismissed or a conviction was overturned. In some states, a governor’s pardon is needed. It can be a complex process, which advocates say is made even more difficult by a lack of support services for the exonerated.
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signs sentencing, expungement bills into law Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentMay 7, 2013 By Lesley Weidenbener
Posted May 6, 2013
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has signed bills to revamp the state’s felony sentencing laws and give some offenders the ability to expunge their records.
“Indiana should be the worst place in America to commit a serious crime and the best place, once you’ve done your time, to get a second chance,” Pence said in a statement.
The sentencing legislation — House Bill 1006 — is the product of three years of work by lawmakers, judges, prosecutors and others. It’s the first wholesale overhaul of the criminal code since the 1970s.
It will move Indiana’s system of four felony classes to one that has six felony levels. It also requires offenders to serve 75 percent of their sentences instead of the 50 percent currently required. Indiana “Second Chance” Bill Signed Into Law Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentMay 7, 2013 May 7, 2013
(Indianapolis, Ind.) – A local lawmaker’s bill that allows non-violent Indiana criminals to have their charges eventually erased from their records is now law.
House Enrolled Act 1482 allows individuals to expunge a misdemeanor conviction – such as a DUI or possession of marijuana – after five years. Some non-violent and non-sexual Class D felonies – like theft or residential entry – can be expunged after eight years. An individual can only petition a judge for expungement one time.
The law also allows judges to seal the records of a person who was arrested but not prosecuted or whose conviction was overturned on appeal one year after their arrest. Another provision permits police to access certain expunged records without a court order.
Using Soccer to Save Kids Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentMay 3, 2013 ESPN documentary cameras follow probation officer Gina Castañeda, and she's 'at a loss for words.'
By Jennifer Squires
May 18, 2011
The film crew is still following Gina Castañeda.
Though the debut of the mini documentary about the Santa Cruz County juvenile probation officer and her inspirational—if not innovative—gang intervention program is less than six weeks away, the cameras have yet to finish shadowing Casteñeda.
They're with her at work and in court, when she coaches her daughters' little girls soccer team and, of course, at Aztecas soccer games at the indoor soccer arena at Ramsay Park.
Castañeda started the Aztecas soccer program three years ago as a way to help troubled teens find a positive activity. Dozens of gang members have gone through the program, which will be featured in HERoics, a series of six short documentaries about women's courage, struggles and breaking through barriers.
A Save You Should See Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentMay 3, 2013 Theresa R. (Gina) Castaneda
Santa Cruz, California Probation Department
Abandoned as a child by her mother, Gina Castaneda sought solace in soccer. Now a probation officer and a youth soccer coach in California, Castaneda steers her players away from the gang turf wars and towards a better life. Her story, "The Save," is one of six told in espnW's HERoics soccer film series.
2013 POPAI Elections Notice Submitted by Ryan Hull
Title: District 2 RepMay 3, 2013 Dear POPAI Members:
It is time for the annual POPAI Elections.
The following positions are up for election in 2013:
District 1
District 3
District 5
District 7
Vice-President
Treasurer
POPAI District 2 Representative, Ryan Hull, is serving as the Election Committee Chair.
The Intent to Run form may be found on the POPAI website. It must be sent to Ryan by July 12th, 2013 (postmarked, emailed, or faxed).
By August 12th, Ryan will send out the election slate to the POPAI membership.
The election will be held during our POPAI Fall Conference (September 11th, 12th, and 13th). Watch the POPAI website for more details.
We hope to see you all at the Fall Conference in beautiful French Lick!!!
Thanks.
Ryan Hull
District 2 Representative
PROBATION OFFICER’S CREED Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentMay 3, 2013 Written by
Justice Steven H. David
Indiana Supreme Court
May 2, 2013
I am a PROBATION OFFICER.
I am an Officer of the Court. I serve the people of Indiana.
I monitor, investigate, report and recommend.
I assist the Court in making informed decisions.
I am a trained professional. I respect the rights of the probationers and everyone I work with.
I understand expectations and consequences. I understand fairness and compassion.
I protect victims. I motivate probationers. I help to change lives for the better.
I report that which is not right to the court. I have no agenda except that which is right.
I help make our state a safer place and a better place to live.
I perform my duties zealously with professionalism and civility.
I make a difference every day.
I am an Officer of the Court. I serve the people of Indiana.
I am a PROBATION OFFICER. Criminal Code Overhaul goes to Pence Submitted by Catherine Custer
Title: District 4 RepApril 29, 2013 HEA-1006 makes many changes to the criminal code. POPAI President says alternatives to incarceration that work best are those that change behavior Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentApril 28, 2013 Rehab, not jail, shows promise in lowering recidivism
Indiana Lawyer
April 10, 2013
Marilyn Odendahl
In Knox County, the threat of incarceration is met with a shrug.
Substance abuse, with methamphetamine being the drug of choice, is putting many behind bars again and again. For some, drug and alcohol abuse begins as young as 8 years old and being arrested is just part of the routine.
“Sometimes (being imprisoned) does give a wake up call,” said Rev. Peter Haskins, “but to a lot of the folks it’s a real acceptable thing to go to jail.”
To help combat the drug problem, Haskins, an ordained United Church of Christ minister, started the Life After Meth program in May 2005. Two years later, LAM partnered with the Knox County jail to bring the program to the facility.
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Testifying before the Senate Committee, Don Travis, president of the Probation Officers’ Professional Association of Indiana, strongly encouraged the committee to re-insert the funding for evidence-based programs that can cut crime.
“If this bill goes into effect without the proper community resources, this bill will not have the effect that is anticipated,” he told the committee members. “Our recidivism rates will continue to grow if we don’t have the resources or the funding to implement the way the bill is currently being structured.”
Legislature Passes Criminal Code Overhaul Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentApril 28, 2013 By BRANDON SMITH, IPBS
Posted April 26, 2013
Indiana took a major step toward overhauling its criminal code Friday as the Senate approved a bill four years in the making.
The criminal code revision bill is the result of work by the Criminal Code Evaluation Commission, a group of lawmakers, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, and law enforcement who analyzed the state’s entire code, line-by-line.
The legislation aims to make sentences for the worst criminal offenses more severe while reducing the penalties for low-level crimes, particularly first-time drug offenses. Its authors say that will keep more people out of prison and instead focus on rehabilitation at the local level.
Representative Matt Pierce (D-Bloomington), one of those authors, says the bill is the scaffolding on which the state’s criminal justice system will be built.
“Most importantly, reduce crime overall but even more importantly, we’re going to salvage a lot of lives in the process and make more people into productive citizens rather than people that sap our resources,” he says. Budget deal includes little funding for criminal code reform Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentApril 28, 2013 April 26, 2013
Maureen Hyden, Herald Bulletin CNHI Statehouse Bureau Chief
INDIANAPOLIS — Facing the end-of-session deadline, Indiana legislators moved forward on a bill to overhaul the state’s criminal sentencing laws but left undone the issue of where local communities will get the money to implement it.
The House voted Thursday to approve a compromise version of the bill, designed to divert thousands of low-level offenders out of state prisons and back into local jails, probation departments, and community treatment programs.
A budget deal also reached Thursday contains $6.4 million to help local communities absorb extra costs of the new sentencing laws that would go into effect July 1, 2014. But falls far short of $30 million recently requested by the bill’s supporters.
“We do not intend for this to be an unfunded mandate to the locals,” said Rep. Greg Steuerwald, R-Avon, who authored House Bill 1006.
Steuerwald said the issue of funding will need to be taken up by a legislative study committee this summer....
......
State Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Portage, who sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee, had attempted to get $30 million in additional funding for local governments impacted by the bill: $10 million to expand community corrections, $10 million for local drug and alcohol treatment programs, and $10 million for county probation departments to hire and train more probation officers.
“I pushed that really hard,” Tallian said. Instead, the final budget bill includes an additional $4 million for community corrections, $250,000 for probation training and $2 million for drug and alcohol treatment programs. Police arrest record 235 at Little 500 Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentApril 23, 2013 Sunday, 21 Apr 2013, 1:23 PM EDT
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WISH/AP) - Excise officers arrested a record 235 people at Indiana University’s Little 500.
Indiana State Excise Police officers say those 235 people were arrested on 285 charges during the events in Bloomington this weekend – this is up 29 from 2012.
Police say in the last several years, the majority of tickets issued were for alcohol offenses. Disagreements stall criminal code reform bill Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentApril 19, 2013 April 19, 2013
Maureen Hayden
The Herald-Tribune
INDIANAPOLIS — Negotiations over the final language in a bill that rewrites Indiana’s criminal code may come down to the last week of the legislative session.
The House authors of the bill aren’t happy with the changes made by the Senate that toughen penalties for some crimes and give judges less latitude in sentencing.
Those disagreements have pushed the bill into a House-Senate conference committee, where legislators from both chambers have to hammer out their differences before the session ends April 29. Judge criticizes probation department in handling of David Renz rape-murder case Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentApril 18, 2013 by Megan Coleman
04.16.2013
SYRACUSE -- Probation officers ignored 46 alerts set off by David Renz's GPS monitoring bracelet, indicating it had been tampered with. That's according to a highly critical report released by U.S. District Chief Judge Gary Sharpe, which was obtained by Syracuse.com.
According to the report, some of the alerts lasted minutes, but others lasted as long as four hours before the GPS bracelet sent a signal to the monitoring center in Colorado indicating it was working correctly.
The report indicates there were seven long alerts revealing Renz's monitor was tampered with leading up to the day he allegedly killed Lori Bresnahan and raped a 10-year-old girl. Chief Judge Gary Sharpe says the terrible tragedy was committed by just one person, but he does apologize for the crimes committed against Bresnahan and the 10-year-old girl. "To those victims and loves ones, we are profoundly sorry that we were unable to prevent this tragedy," he wrote in the report.
The report makes six critical findings, four related to the location monitoring and two related to the supervision add case planning of Renz.
Editorial: County shorts probation at its own risk Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentApril 15, 2013 By the Editorial Board
Published: Thursday, Apr. 11, 2013
"Take the typical 19-year-old meth addict convicted of burglary," a frustrated Sacramento Superior Court Judge Steve White explained to The Bee's editorial board Wednesday. "If I sentence him to probation in this county, I might as well drive him to the next house he's going to burglarize."
First as Sacramento County district attorney, and for the last decade, as a judge in the county's criminal courts, White has witnessed the public safety consequences of decimating Sacramento County's Probation Department. "Probationers know when they are being supervised or not," White says. "This is pivotally important to outcome on probation."
Goldman to Invest in City Jail Program, Profiting if Recidivism Falls Sharply Submitted by Joe Hooker
Title: District 6 RepApril 10, 2013 By DAVID W. CHEN
Published: August 2, 2012
New York City, embracing an experimental mechanism for financing social services that has excited and worried government reformers around the world, will allow Goldman Sachs to invest nearly $10 million in a jail program, with the pledge that the financial services giant would profit if the program succeeded in significantly reducing recidivism rates.
The city will be the first in the United States to test “social impact bonds,” also called pay-for-success bonds, which are an effort to find new ways to finance initiatives that might save governments money over the long term.
First used in Britain and now being explored in Australia, the bonds are rapidly capturing the imagination of some public officials in the United States: on Wednesday, Massachusetts announced that it was completing negotiations with two nonprofit groups to finance juvenile justice and homelessness programs, with the promise of repayment only if the programs work. Sacramento County probation officers have highest caseload in state Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentApril 10, 2013 By Brad Branan
bbranan@sacbee.com
Wednesday, Apr. 10, 2013
Alan Rimington's history of gang activity shows in the ink that covers his body, right down to the threat marked over his eyes.
"Your Next," his grammatically incorrect eyelid tattoos warn.
Rimington, 34, is on probation for possession of methamphetamine, one in a long list of drug charges dating back to when he was 19. Rimington said he's staying out of trouble now, in part because the Sacramento County Probation Department makes periodic visits to his home.
"I never know when they're going to show up – that keeps me in line," he said.
POPAI Training Before PO Annual Meeting Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentApril 9, 2013 POPAI Pre-PO Annual Meeting Training
POPAI will again offer training the day before the PO Annual meeting, Wed. May 1st at the Indiana Convention Center. Bruce Talbot, a retired police officer from Chicago, will present “What Drug is My Probationer On?”
Registration for the training is all done online. Please find information about this training and how to register on the POPAI website Home Page under Educational Opportunities.
Please direct any comments or questions to Susan Rice at 765-469-1593 or through e-mail at
srice@miamicountyin.gov. Cases in which a defendant with lesser culpability draws the harshest sentence are not uncommon in Arizona Submitted by Susan Bentley
Title: District 5 RepApril 8, 2013 The NY Times this weekend had a long story by Fernanda Santos headed "Less Culpable, but With Longer Sentences." A sample:
“In an ideal world, the prosecution would have ironclad proof against all the co-defendants to be able to pick the worst for the death penalty, but we have an inequitable system, a bargaining system,” said Richard Dieter, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, which tracks the number of executions across the country.
“If you give the prosecution some help,” Mr. Dieter said of defendants in such cases, “you’ll get something out of it.”
In 1972, the Supreme Court voted 5 to 4 to invalidate all death penalty laws in the country because they had been too arbitrarily applied. One of the concurring justices, Potter Stewart, wrote that the Constitution could not “permit this unique penalty to be so wantonly and freakishly imposed.” States moved to rewrite their statutes, narrowing their definition of first-degree murder or the number of aggravating factors used to define a capital crime. The idea was to make sure the death penalty would be reserved for the worst of the worst.
A Mother's Last Hope Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentApril 7, 2013 STAR EXCLUSIVE: Indiana's criminal justice system for drug offenders
She thought jail would be a safe place for her heroin-addicted son. Now she wants reform of a criminal justice system that experts say can't handle the thousands of drug offenders who enter it.
By Michael Boren
Vickie Harpold's 30-year-old son looked as if he hadn't bathed in days. His clothes were wrinkled and he needed a shave.
He lay on the couch, watching television.
When his mother entered the family room of their Westside home he gave her an order: "You gotta take me to work in the morning,"
But she refused. She noticed that her son, Kevin, was nodding off. She told him she knew there were drugs at the moving company where he worked. A vicious argument flared up. He hurled insults at her.
"I felt like I was losing him," Vickie Harpold recalled. "And I had to try to save him." EDITORIAL: DOC is crying wolf at criminal code reform Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentApril 7, 2013 Indiana Economic Digest
3-29-13
Indiana General Assembly has been working on revamping the criminal code for more than a year. Many believe that we are putting too many people in jail who don’t need to be there: low-level, nonviolent offenders, mostly related to drugs.
Now that a bill has been crafted, Gov. Mike Pence and his Department of Correction deputy commissioner Randy Koester are coming out against the bill, saying it would nearly double the inmate population in the next decade.
The nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency conducted a study about the proposed law and found that even though the inmate population would have a small increase in the next few years — from the current 28,000 to 30,000 — the total would eventually fall and not even come close to the DOC’s estimate of 48,000. POPAI Position Statement HB 1006 Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentMarch 31, 2013 Written by Don Travis, POPAI President
With regard to House Bill 1006, entitled Various Changes to the Criminal Code, POPAI supports the underlying concepts of this bill.
House Bill (HB) 1006 in essence re-writes the Criminal Code as we have known it for the past several decades. The bill creates a new class system for felonies in Indiana, moving from Murder and Class A through D felonies to Murder and Class 1 through 6 felonies.
REASONS WHY POPAI SUPPORTS HB 1006:
The Probation Officers Professional Association of Indiana (POPAI) is in support of HB 1006 and the various new provisions that will assist probation and community supervision. The reasons for this support are as follows:
Bill reforming criminal code passes Senate committee Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentMarch 31, 2013 The first comprehensive overhaul of Indiana’s felony statutes in more than 35 years passed the Senate Committee on Corrections and Criminal Law Thursday by a vote of 8-1.
House Bill 1006 increases the penalties for offenders sentenced to prison but balances that against providing treatment and programs in the local communities for low-level criminals. This approach is promoted as a way to reduce recidivism and lower the cost of incarceration for the state. Criminal Code bill gets Senate hearing Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentMarch 31, 2013 Don Travis, president of the Probation Officers’ Professional Association of Indiana, strongly encouraged the committee to provide the funding that communities need to implement alternative programs.
“If this bill goes into effect without the proper community resources,” he said, “it will not have the effect that’s anticipated.” IND. COURTS - "HIGH COURT NAMES LAKE JUVENILE COURT CARETAKER" Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentMarch 22, 2013 The Indiana Law Blog
Bill Dolan NWI Times
CROWN POINT | A veteran Northwest Indiana judge will serve as caretaker of the Lake Juvenile Justice complex while the rest of the county's judiciary does battle for permanent control of that court.
The Indiana Supreme Court named Senior Judge Thomas W. Webber Sr. Friday to serve as the temporary juvenile court judge after the current officeholder, Judge Mary Beth Bonaventura steps down Sunday to become head of the Indiana Department of Child Services in Indianapolis. Monroe County Community Corrections earns an ‘A’ on state audit Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentMarch 19, 2013 www.Heraldtimesonline.com
March 16, 2013
The Monroe County Community Corrections Department earned an A grade on a March 4 programming audit by the Indiana Department of Correction.
The audit measured the department’s commitment to evidence-based practices, or using programs proven to reduce the number of re-offenders, according to Monroe County Chief Probation Officer Linda Brady. This is the first time the state correction department has done a programming audit.
Monroe County Community Corrections earned 93 out of a possible 100 points in six review areas that ranged from the variety of programs offered to the department’s internal tracking of re-offenders. The audit score helps determine the amount of grant funds the community corrections department receives in 2014. Other factors include the grant application and a department presentation.
Brady said her staff has worked since November to prepare for the audit, and has identified areas where the department and programming can improve. “A concern was: Are we going to do this for the audit and then let it sit on a shelf?” Brady said. “My answer is: No. It’s going to be a road map for our department for the coming years.” New Issue of INDIANA COURT TIMES Now Available Submitted by Christine Kerl
Title: TreasurerMarch 18, 2013 INDIANA COURT TIMES
Issue 22.1 JAN/FEB 2013
Published by the Indiana Supreme Court
Division of State Court Administration
Hammond City Council to review salaries for probation officers Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentMarch 13, 2013 March 09, 2013 7:45 pm
Chelsea Schneider Kirk chelsea.schneider@nwi.com
HAMMOND | Hammond City Court Judge Jeffrey Harkin is asking the City Council to tweak salaries for three probation officer positions to meet state standards.
Harkin said the salaries were incorrect in an ordinance the City Council approved setting this year's salaries for city workers.
The salary for the chief probation officer will increase to $62,305, according to the proposed ordinance. The city's two probation officer positions will now make $46,377 and $35,818. The original salary ordinance had pay for both positions at $45,834.
“We're mandated by the Indiana Judicial Center to pay certain minimum salaries to our probation officers,” Harkin said. “Those minimum salaries were accounted for in the budget. They, however, were not accounted for in the salary ordinance.” Probation officers in short supply Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentMarch 13, 2013 City News Service
Los Angeles, CA
Posted: 03/05/2013 09:25:34 PM PST
The Probation Department is having trouble hiring the officers it needs to supervise probationers who were formerly the state's responsibility, the county's probation chief told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.
Chief Probation Officer Jerry Powers said he was committed to filling about 200 additional positions by December, but cautioned: "This will not be easy."
Powers said he was "looking under every stone, looking at promotions" and pushing reluctant personnel to change positions.
Powers' comments were part of a detailed report to the Board of Supervisors on the status of the state shifting responsibility for low-risk offenders to California counties. Criminal code overhaul gains support Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentMarch 13, 2013 Eberhart, local corrections officials agree reform needed
By C.M. Schmidlkofer
Staff writer
Published: Wednesday, March 13, 2013 7:07 AM
A House bill before the Indiana General Assembly attempts the first overhaul of the state's criminal code in more than 30 years.
House Bill 1006, authored by Rep. Greg Steuerwald, R-Avon, passed the House on Feb. 25 by a 80-13 vote in favor of the measure.
It promises to be tough on crime by requiring felons serve 75 percent of their sentences while decreasing prison time served by non-violent offenders in favor of county jails or through intensive supervision in community corrections programs.
"This is the bill that's smart on crime," said State Rep. Sean Eberhart, R-Shelbyville. "We're trying to take away the focus on offenders and put the focus on the victims and let's make sure that the offenders pay for what they actually did."
Probation Officials Worry About Funding Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentMarch 13, 2013 WFIU Podcast
Friday March 8, 2013
Indiana Public Media: A bill headed to Indiana’s Senate contains the largest criminal code changes in 30 years. Part of the proposal would sentence many low level prisoners to county rehabilitation programs rather than to state prisons. The bill passed the Indiana House last week, but not before lawmakers sliced away its $1.9 million funding package.
Our guests today are Linda Brady, Chief Probation Officer, Monroe County Probation Department; Representative Matt Pierce, Co-author, House Bill 1006; and Jill Matheny-Fuqua, Director, Indiana Addictions Issues Coalition in Indianapolis.
Ind. Courts - Lake County death penalty trial budgeted at $750,000 Submitted by Susan Bentley
Title: District 5 RepMarch 11, 2013 Susan Brown writes today in the NWI Times in a long story that begins:
CROWN POINT | Lake County officials say the tab for the Kevin Isom death penalty case is capped at $750,000, and any more will have to be borrowed.
In the wake of a five-week trial, Isom, 46, was formally sentenced to death Friday for the murders of his wife and two stepchildren in August 2007.
The county had increased this year's appropriations to help defray costs, Lake County Council President Ted Bilski, D-Hobart, said.
"Last year, we budgeted for death penalty cases approximately $500,000," Bilski said. "For 2013, we took $250,000 from riverboats, (adding it) to the $500,000 for a total of $750,000."
"If they go through that, there's no other recourse here," he said. "They have to go to our borrowing committee."
Reducing the burden on the county will be reimbursements from the Indiana Public Defender Commission for 50 percent of defense-related costs; the non-capital reimbursement rate is 40 percent.
"Weed Candy" just one way teenagers hide marijuana use Submitted by Catherine Custer
Title: District 4 RepMarch 5, 2013 New "Weed Candy" being used by teenagers in Indiana. POPAI INCREASES DONALD “Charley” KNEPPLE SCHOLARSHIP Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentMarch 4, 2013 The Probation Officers Professional Association of Indiana provides a scholarship in memory of Donald “Charley” Knepple. Charley lost his life on April 28, 1997, while performing his probation officer duties in Allen County, Indiana. In an effort to honor an outstanding professional and to promote further professionalism, POPAI selected a scholarship that would encourage continued education and advanced degrees for probation in Indiana.
For the 2013 scholarship, POPAI has increased the award from $1,000 to $2,500. The 2013 recipient of the Donald “Charley” Knepple Scholarship will receive funding for six credit hours to an accredited university, not to exceed $2,500.
Please click on the scrolling link on the POPAI website Home page for this year's application.
Application and all supplemental documentation must be received by 4:00 p.m. E.T. Friday March 29, 2013. Submit via email, FAX or U.S. mail to:
Susan Bentley
Marion County Probation
200 East Washington St. Suite 641
Indianapolis, IN 46204
FAX: (317) 327-4269
Email: sbentley@indy.gov
Questions? Contact Susan @ (317) 327-4259
The scholarship winner will be announced at the Annual Probation Officer's Meeting May 2, 2013.
Probation and Pretrial Services Officers Reach Out to Communities Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentMarch 3, 2013 February 28, 2013
It’s the mission of U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services Officers to assist the federal court in the fair administration of justice, to protect the community and to bring about long-term positive change in the individuals they supervise. Frequently, their work involves helping the communities they serve. Overhaul of Indiana's criminal code in the works Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentMarch 3, 2013 New sentencing guidelines would keep violent offenders behind bars longer, give low-level criminals chance to avoid prison
Pal-item.com
Written by Robert Sullivan
Staff Writer
March 2, 2013
A bill passed out of the Indiana House this week would alter the state’s criminal code, the first time the code has been rewritten since 1977.
Jud McMillin, R-Brookville, who represents Franklin, Union and Dearborn counties as the representative for House District 68, helped co-author the bill, which passed out of the House with an 80-13 vote. The bill now will move to the Senate for a reading and what likely will be a quick vote, McMillin said.
According to McMillin, the rewriting of the criminal code is past due.
“It wasn’t a matter of if but a matter of when,” McMillin said this week from the Statehouse in Indianapolis.
Indiana State Conference to End Sexual Violence Announced Submitted by Christine Kerl
Title: TreasurerFebruary 25, 2013 The Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC), Indiana Coalition Against Sexual Assault (INCASA), and the Midwest Regional Network for Intervention with Sex Offenders (MRNISO) have partnered to host the Indiana State Conference to End Sexual Violence. The conference is scheduled for March 20-22 and will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel located at Union Station, Indianapolis Indiana.
Please visit http://casomtraining.com/incasa to register. For you and your staff residing more than 50 miles from the hotel, you may be offered complimentary guest room accommodations. Continuing education credit will also be available. Please see the registration site for further details and scholarship opportunities.
The conference is offering a variety of workshops and speakers that may be of interest to you and your staff. In addition to receiving information about sex offender treatment, supervision, and prevention, you will also have the opportunity to attend sessions that provide you resources for sex offenders, information on how you can deal with the media, opportunities to hear and speak with survivors, etc. This is Indiana’s only statewide conference to focus on sexual violence issues. We think this is a great opportunity for you to receive information from your colleagues and to network with partners from around the State.
Criminal code rewrite unfunded locally House moving forward with legislation. Submitted by Mignon Ware
Title: District 8 RepFebruary 24, 2013 Indianapolis — The Indiana House is moving forward on legislation that rewrites the state criminal code to make punishment better fit the crime, but a key ingredient is still missing: Money to implement it on the local level.
House Bill 1006 is designed to reserve state prisons for the worst offenders while sending more low-level offenders into county jails, community-based corrections and probation rolls.
The goal is to get those low-level offenders – many of whom are drug abusers – into programs that offer treatment and intensive supervision that reduce the odds they’ll commit another crime.
2013: State of the Judiciary Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentFebruary 12, 2013 Presented by Chief Justice Brent E. Dickson
January 23, 2013
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What a profound honor it is for me to appear before you, the men and women of the Indiana General Assembly, in these historic chambers. Just being in this Statehouse continues to inspire me despite walking these halls for over 27 years now. This building constantly reminds me—as I'm sure it does you—of the greatness of our State and its people, and of the privilege and responsibility of public service.
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On the subject of cooperation, I am very happy to have served on your Criminal Code Evaluation Commission this summer, and I greatly admire its focus on evidence-based practices that can make our criminal justice system more effective in protecting public safety, reducing repeat criminal activity, enabling offender reformation, and at the same time substantially reducing incarceration costs. I support the resulting legislation, House Bill 1006, including its reassignment of salaries for chief and assistant chief probation officers from the counties to the state. Marion Superior Court Appoints New Chief Probation Officer Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentFebruary 12, 2013 Indianapolis
February 5, 32013
Christine Kerl has been appointed Chief Probation Officer for the Marion Superior Court (MSC). She joined the MSC in 1996 after working as a probation officer with the Miami Circuit and Superior Courts. She has served as Interim Marion County Chief Probation Officer since September 2012. Prior to this appointment, she served as Assistant Deputy Chief Probation Officer with the Adult Services Division. Kerl supervised the sex offender team for seven years and coordinated the department’s highly successful, annual “Operation Halloween,” a mandatory meeting for sex offenders (during Trick or Treat hours) who are on probation and Indiana Department of Correction parolees in Marion County who have active no-contact orders with children.
Kerl supervises 265 employees who are responsible for monitoring probation requirements for more than 11,000 adults and approximately 2,000 juveniles each year in Marion County. Judicial supervision is provided by the Honorable Kurt Eisgruber and the Marion Superior Court Executive Committee.
Kerl served as President of the Midwest Regional Network for Intervention with Sex Offenders from 2008-2012 and has been an active member of the organization for over 14 years. She holds memberships with the National Association of Probation Executives, American Probation and Parole Association, and the Indiana Probation Officers Professional Association where she serves as treasurer. She is a former facilitator for the Marion County Sex Crimes Coalition and served on the Marion County Corrections Advisory Board from 2008 – 2012. Ind. Courts - "Sex offender who bought alcohol for minor ordered to walk outside courthouse with sign" [Update Submitted by Susan Bentley
Title: District 5 RepFebruary 11, 2013 WRTV6 has this brief report this morning. The ILB is currently unable to find out the name of the judge. A quote from the story:
Larry Bass, 27, of Pike County in southern Indiana, was convicted of child molestation in 2010 and was sentenced to five years.
But after his release from prison, he was arrested for buying vodka for a 14-year-old.
As part of his punishment, Bass will have to walk Friday outside of the Pike County Courthouse wearing a sandwich-style fluorescent sign reading, "Registered Sex Offender Who Bought Alcohol for Kids."
Mr. Bass's earlier conviction was affirmed on appeal by the COA on April 14, 2011. Community Corrections Board Coming to Rush County Submitted by Catherine Custer
Title: District 4 RepFebruary 8, 2013 Community Corrections is coming to Rush County. Board is currently getting ready to hire a Director for the Commnity Corrections Program. Howard Co. probation officer leaves mark on community as she retires after 3 decades Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentFebruary 7, 2013 By MIKE FLETCHER Kokomo Tribune
February 01, 2013 - 11:01 am EST
KOKOMO, Indiana — Linda Stroup has touched many lives in her 33 years as a Howard County probation officer.
That was evident Thursday — her last day of work. A group of men whom she'd counseled and assisted over the years braved the wind and cold to greet her as she exited the courthouse.
With a single rose in hand, each one — including her son, Ralph — gave a hug and wished her well.
"Oh, my God," Linda said after seeing the small crowd.
"She was always an upfront lady," David Arrenendo told the Kokomo Tribune (http://bit.ly/11rWUTi ).
"When I was on probation, she reminded me I had a family," he said. "Now, 15 years later, here I am. I'm with my kids and doing good. She's like a mother figure." Choice of Mary Beth Bonaventura as DCS chief is praised Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentFebruary 6, 2013 January 30, 2013
Indystar.com
Written by
Mary Beth Schneider and Tim Evans
Gov. Mike Pence has picked Lake County Juvenile Judge Mary Beth Bonaventura to head the state’s agency that seeks to protect abused and neglected children.
Advocates for children, along with lawmakers in both parties, were hailing Mary Beth Bonaventura, Gov. Mike Pence’s pick to head Indiana’s Department of Child Services.
In hiring Bonaventura, a Lake County juvenile court judge, the state is getting someone with both the strength and compassion to deal with one of Indiana’s most difficult problems: protecting children from abuse and neglect.
Pence called Bonaventura “uniquely qualified” to head DCS. She has dealt with difficult issues affecting children since 1993, when she was first appointed to the bench by Gov. Evan Bayh, and has also served on state panels that address children’s civil rights, welfare and services. Marion Superior Court judges elect leadership Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentFebruary 6, 2013 February 4, 2013
IndyStar.com
Written by Tim Evans
Marion Superior Judge David Certo has been elected by Superior Court judges to serve as the court's Presiding Judge for the next two years. Judges Becky-Pierson Treacy and Marc Rothenberg will both serve additional two year terms as Associate Presiding Judges, according to a release issued by the court. Also joining the Executive Committee is Judge James Osborn as Associate Presiding Judge. He replaces Judge John Hanley.
The Executive Committee works Court Administrator Andrea Newsom, according to the release, to direct budget, policy and personnel issues for all 36 criminal and civil courts of the Marion Superior Court. The committee also oversees the Marion County Probation Department and the Marion County Juvenile Detention facility. Court overturns Indiana ban on sex offenders using social networks Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentFebruary 6, 2013 Jan. 23, 2013
IndyStar.com
Written by Tim Evans
An Indiana law barring most registered sex offenders from using social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter is unconstitutional, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.
The law that bans sex offenders from using sites they know allow access to youths under the age of 18 is too broad, a three-judge panel determined, and “prohibits substantial protected speech.”
To be upheld, the appeals court found, such a law needs to be more specifically tailored to target “the evil of improper communication to minors.” Woman gets probation for resisting arrest, mischief Submitted by Jim Taylor
Title: District 1 RepFebruary 3, 2013 A Carbon County woman was placed on probation for 24 months on Thursday after pleading guilty to one count each of resisting arrest and criminal mischief.
Crystal Mae Dorwood, 49, of Lehighton, entered her plea before Judge Steven R. Serfass. She was arrested on Dec. 29, 2012, by Lehighton police for an incident in the area of S. First and Iron streets.
Police responded to the area to a report of a female with a knife slashing tires. On scene they found Dorwood. She was placed under arrest but refused to respond to police commands. A struggle resulted in her being forced to the ground and then she resisted being placed in the police cruiser. A knife was found near the scene.
She caused damages to the vehicle of Richard Hauser, of 123 Iron St.
Dorwood admitted to a severe alcohol abuse problem. She told Serfass, "Alcohol has been a major problem in my life."
Serfass told her, "Certainly in my view you need to complete an inpatient program."
Dorwood was scheduled to enter her plea on Tuesday morning before Serfass. However, she appeared at the courthouse under the influence of alcohol. Serfass ordered the adult probation office personnel to give her a breath test. The result was a .18BAC.
Serfass then found her in contempt of court and placed her in the county prison where she remained until Thursday's plea proceeding.
In addition to the probation period Serfass also ordered her to get a drug and alcohol evaluation and follow any recommendation for treatment, go into an inpatient program as soon as arrangements can be made, zero tolerance on drug or alcohol use, have no contact with Hauser, make restitution of $50.157 to the victim, pay court costs of about $1,000, and pay a $50 per month supervision fee while on probation.
On the mischief count, a summary offense, she was fined $300.
Ind. Courts - "If drivers refuse a breath test, we’re drawing your blood. And if you refuse that, we’re going to ge Submitted by Susan Bentley
Title: District 5 RepJanuary 14, 2013 Three more Allen County drivers are cooling their heels in jail after refusing to submit to a court order for a blood draw after being pulled over on suspicion of operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
On Friday, Allen Superior Court Judges John Surbeck and Fran Gull, as well as Magistrate Samuel Keirns, each had a hearing on a civil charge of indirect contempt of court with different drivers who balked at the court order. Indirect contempt involves obstructing court process or refusing a judge’s order outside the presence of the judge. Direct contempt involves misbehavior within the courtroom or in front of the judge.
In September, Allen County Prosecutor Karen Richards announced a shift in how her office handles drunken-driving arrests and suspects who refuse to submit to a certified Breathalyzer test at the jail. Now her office obtains a search warrant from a judge forcing the driver to stick an arm out and get a blood test.
Gun Control Group Urges Expanded Background Checks Submitted by Mandy Miller
Title: District 3 RepJanuary 11, 2013 The New York Times
WASHINGTON — The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, one of the nation’s leading gun control groups, said on Friday that it wanted the White House to focus its attention on expanded background checks for gun buyers as part of a broad push to reduce gun violence in the wake of the school attack in Connecticut last month.
Authorities find alligator protecting marijuana during probation check Submitted by Joe Hooker
Title: District 6 RepJanuary 10, 2013 Yahoo! New
By The Associated Press
Jan. 10, 2013
CASTRO VALLEY, Calif. - A Castro Valley man is in jail and an alligator authorities say he likely had to protect a stash of marijuana has been taken to a zoo.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports when Alameda County deputies entered the home of Assif Mayr on Wednesday afternoon for a probation check, they found 15 kilograms of marijuana and 1.5-metre alligator in a tank in the bedroom.
Sheriff's Sgt. J.D. Nelson says the alligator was likely used as deterrent against marijuana thieves.
Nelson says Mayr was arrested and booked into jail on suspicion of possessing marijuana for sale.
He was being held in lieu of $160,000 bail.
The alligator was taken to Oakland Zoo. Officials there described it as very sick and said it was being cared for at the zoo's veterinary hospital. School Safety Bill Introduced Into General Assembly Submitted by Catherine Custer
Title: District 4 RepJanuary 7, 2013 School Safety Bill Introduced into General Assembly.
Jan. 4, 2013
Calling it a “good first step” for school safety, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller outlined a proposed bill that would create a uniform standard for the school resource officers.
Senate Bill 270, introduced Jan. 3 by State Sen. Pete Miller, R-Avon, defines the qualifications for being a school resource officer as well as the duties of that position. In addition, the legislation would provide matching grants that school corporations could use to support their own SROs. Long Journey with Cancer Takes Probation Officer Submitted by Linda Brady
Title: Vice-PresidentJanuary 4, 2013 Roslyn Rochelle Irby, 42, of Fort Wayne, departed this life on Thursday, December 27, 2012. Roslyn was a 1988 graduate of Bishop Luers High School. She also graduated from Ball State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice. She worked for Allen County Adult Probation as a Probation Officer.
Published: January 3, 2013
‘Long journey’ with cancer takes daughter
Frank Gray
Journalgazette.net
In 2008 Roslyn Irby’s picture was among those in a calendar featuring cancer survivors put out by the Fort Wayne African American Cancer Alliance.
She had licked a slow-growing type of skin cancer that had plagued her for nine years.
Within less than a year, though, cancer returned. For four years, in a series of dramatic rallies and dashed hopes, she battled with the disease, declining to the brink of death only to bounce back. Judge: State violated rights of mentally ill inmates at New Castle Submitted by Joe Hooker
Title: District 6 RepJanuary 2, 2013 IndyStar.com
Jan. 2, 2013
A federal judge has ruled that the Indiana Department of Correction’s treatment of mentally ill prisoners held in segregation units at the New Castle Psychiatric Unit, and the failure to provide adequate treatment for those prisoners, violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against the imposition of cruel and unusual punishment.
The decision was issued Monday by Judge Tanya Walton Pratt in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana in a suit filed in 2008 by Indiana Protection and Advocacy Services Commission and a group of inmates. The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana represented the plaintiffs in the case.
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