Pubdate: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 Source: Southeast Sun, The (Enterprise, AL) Copyright: 2005 The Southeast Sun Contact: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3701 Website: http://www.southeastsun.com Author: Ed Bania Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment) DA WANTS PRETRIAL DIVERSION PROGRAM Twelfth Judicial Circuit District Attorney Gary McAliley is lobbying the Alabama Legislature to pass a pretrial diversion program bill for Coffee and Pike counties. McAliley said the proposed bill is a "win-win" situation. The bill is written to make sure that victims receive restitution from the offender for damages. The offender may also be required to attend an education program and/or counseling, learn to read and write, financially support a spouse and/or children, not use alcohol and drugs, obtain employment, and pay court costs, fines, supervision and court referral officer fees. Curfews, home detention or travel restraints may be made. "We can put them into a drug rehabilitation program and they report monthly," McAliley said. He noted it currently takes six to eight months before a victim starts receiving restitution. Similar programs recently implemented in Houston and Henry counties have lowered the number of state inmate incarcerations, resulting in saving taxpayers money. It's estimated that the state spends $9,000 a year to incarcerate an inmate. To get into the program, the applicant has to waive his or her right to a speedy trial. "The key thing is right now, it takes six to eight months by the time they are charged and enter a plea or are tried," McAliley said. According to the State Comptroller's Office, $538,000 was spent on indigent defense expenditures in Coffee County and $377,000 in Pike County last year. People accepted into the program would pay fees. A fee of up to $850 would be charged for a felony offense, of which $50 would be allocated to the county's circuit clerk's office, the county's general fund, and the arresting agency. A fee of up to $500 would be charged for a misdemeanor and $25 would go to the circuit clerk's office, general fund, and arresting agency. A fee of up to $350 would be paid for a traffic offense. The two-year program is designed for non-violent offenders. If the person completes the program, he or she would not have a criminal record. "To be eligible, they have to be a first time offender of a non-violent crime," McAliley said. "It is designed to give people a chance - who really want it." Persons charged with a traffic or property offense, or an offense not involving serious physical injury to a victim, a child under 14 years of age, a law enforcement officer, a school official or a correctional officer are eligible for the program. The bill states that an offender would be admitted to the program if "there is a probability justice will be served" and the "needs of the state and of the offender can be met." Ineligible offenses include DUI, trafficking in and/or the distribution of drugs, abusing a child or an elderly person, any sex offense, any Class A felony, serious injury to a person, offenses involving death, or any person deemed to be a threat to the community. The district attorney's office would design the program specifically for each offender and violation. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake