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