NPR
1-16-2020
Judith Kogan
Shane MacLeod spent 14 years in federal prison for armed robbery and he’s covered from head-to-toe in tattoos. The only things not covered are his butt cheeks and the tops of his feet. Inmates often tattoo one another with makeshift tools. Some get gang-related tattoos, which they consider a matter of survival. Others, such as […]
Indiana Public Media
01/29/2020
Brandon Smith
A Senate committee took hours of contentious testimony on a measure that would lower the age at which children are sent to the Department of Correction. Major portions of the bill were entirely removed, on the fly, moments before a final vote was taken. Provisions that remain expand the list of crimes that could send a delinquent […]
Indiana Public Media
01/16/2020
Brandon Smith
Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush issued a call to arms for everyone involved in the state’s justice system in her annual State of the Judiciary Address Wednesday. Rush hailed much of the work that’s already been done in Indiana – from problem-solving courts to improved court technology to pretrial and criminal justice reform. But she […]
Indiana Public Media
01/06/2020
Associated Press
A new Indiana rule requiring that booked inmates be assessed to determine risks or benefits of releasing them before trial is expected to eventually reduce overcrowding at the state’s county jails, criminal justice officials said. Criminal Rule 26, which set Indiana’s new pretrial release protocols, was adopted by the Indiana Supreme Court in 2017 but […]
NPR
12/31/2019
Hansi Lo Wang and Kumari Devarajan
Robert Alexander has been away from home for more than a decade. His days and nights are spent locked up behind walls topped with barbed wire. “Prison kind of gives you that feeling that you’re like on an island,” says Alexander, 39, who is studying for a bachelor’s degree in biblical studies while serving his […]
Indiana Public Media
12/23/2019
Darian Benson
Indiana was awarded $5.2 million to help pregnant and postpartum women with opioid addictions. The grant comes from the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services. It is part of a collaboration between Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) and CMS to combat opioid use in pregnancy. FSSA chief medical officer, Dr. Dan Rusyniak, says […]
The Justice Reinvestment Advisory Council’s report on Bail Reform and Pretrial Issues has been posted on their website.
Indiana Office of Court Services
12/02/2019
The County Jail Overcrowding Task Force was established in 2019 (IC 11-12-6.8) to conduct a statewide review of jail overcrowding and identify common reasons and possible local, regional and statewide solutions. The task force will also study the issue of reducing recidivism for convicted felons in county jails by offering programs that address mental health […]
Indiana Public Media
11/21/2019
Jill Sheridan
The final report for the National Judicial Opioid Task Force was released this week and includes recommendations and resources for courts responding to addiction. The task force was formed in 2017. Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush co-chairs the group and says it was created in response to the growing number of court cases related to substance abuse. […]
NPR
11-7-2019
Andrea Dukakis
Melinda McDowell had used drugs since she was a teenager. But she didn’t try methamphetamine until one fateful night in 2017 after her mother died suddenly of a stroke. She went to a neighbor’s house and he had crystal meth. “I tried it and I was hooked from the first hit,” McDowell says. “It was […]
Indiana Public Media
10-31-2019
Associated Press
Indiana officials are suspending work requirements for low-income residents who receive their health insurance through Medicaid while a federal lawsuit challenging the plan is sorted out. The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration said Thursday it won’t be enforcing rules that require those not qualifying for exemptions to report 20 hours a month of work or related […]
NPR
10-16-2019
Yuki Noguchi
A common vocabulary can be an essential ingredient to creating the kind of respect, diversity and inclusiveness that many employers say they aspire to create. Here are some steps that advocates, therapists and human resources experts say can help you be a good colleague. Do your own research. It’s OK to have questions, but rather than […]
NPR
10/06/2019
Emily Vaughn
Vape pens are easy to conceal, they’re easy to confuse with other electronic gadgets like USB flash drives, and they generally don’t leave lingering smells on clothes. All these things make them appealing to underage users, and confounding to parents. Gone are the days when sniffing a teenager’s jacket or gym bag counted as passive […]
Indiana Daily Student
10/06/2019
Claire Peters
IU is working with the Monroe County Circuit Court Probation Department to decrease the number of people sent to jail over probation violations as part of a nationwide study conducted to reduce mass incarceration. When people are on probation, if they break any of the rules, such as not showing up for appointments, they are […]
The Indiana Lawyer
10/04/2019
Olivia Covington
Across Indiana, 44 local jails are currently at capacity. But if half of all pretrial detainees were released, that number would fall to 11. State Rep. Greg Steuerwald presented that statistic Friday during the opening session of the Indiana Pretrial Summit. Interdisciplinary teams from all 92 counties gathered in Indianapolis to learn about pretrial best […]
10/3/2019
Indiana Office of Court Services
The Indiana Office of Court Services is pleased to announce a Call for Papers for the 2020 Justice Services Conference. The conference will be held on April 27-29, 2020 at the Indiana Convention Center. The conference will include all staff from Probation, Court Alcohol and Drug Programs and Problem-Solving Courts. With the increased number of […]
Posted
9/30/2019
To the Bench, Bar and Public: The Board of Directors of the Indiana Judicial Conference is seeking public comment on proposed new rules for the certification of pretrial services. The proposed rules include: Procedures for certification through the Indiana Office of Court Services The creation of a multidisciplinary pretrial policy team Pretrial services staff requirements […]
Herald-Times
09/25/2019
Laura Lane
Indiana’s top judge says nothing in her lifetime has hit society and the courts as hard as the festering opioid epidemic that has swept the nation. “This opioid crisis caught us all sort of flat-footed. We saw the addiction wave coming and we have not been good at addressing it.” That was Indiana Supreme Court […]
9/18/2019
POPAI and IACCAC leadership made a joint presentation at the Interim Study Committee on Corrections and Criminal Code on September 18, 2019. The topic was concerning trends in community supervision. We were able to show the increase in community corrections population from July 2015 to September 2019. […]
Indiana Public Media
09/13/2019
Brandon Smith
A recent study shows state Supreme Courts across the country lack gender and racial diversity – and Indiana is no exception. All but three of the 110 justices in Hoosier State history have been white men. Indiana Public Broadcasting Statehouse reporter Brandon Smith talks with Chief Justice Loretta Rush – the state’s first female chief […]
NPR
09/17/2019
Cheryl Corley
Remember those old “wanted” posters on TV Westerns? They offered rewards for handing over a person to law enforcement. In more recent times, rewards are less about bounty hunting and more about persuading people to provide information that can help solve a crime. It’s an attempt to use money to overcome fear and apathy, and […]
NPR
09/05/2019
Francesca Paris
The alcohol Breathalyzer came to life slowly, over the course of decades. From the 1930s through the 1960s, scientists, lawmakers, police and the public quarreled over the veracity of the numbers spit out by the device, the appropriate legal limit for drivers and whether they could trust a machine over a cop’s testimony. Today, the same […]
The Chronicle of Social Change
08/22/2019
Jeremy Loudenback
“Timing is everything,” CNN host and author Van Jones told a room full of law enforcement officials, gathered in San Francisco on Monday for the announcement of a new initiative that hopes to drastically shrink the number of Americans under the supervision of probation or parole. In recent years, the number of people on adult parole […]
Arnold Ventures
08/19/2019
Michael Hardy
Probation and parole were invented in the 19th century as alternatives to prison. Today, however, they too often function as traps that keep people entangled with the criminal justice system, sending them back behind bars for mere technical violations like missing an appointment with a probation officer or failing a drug test, and contributing to […]
POPAI’s own Susan Rice takes the Oath of Office as the newly elected Vice President of the American Probation and Parole Association in San Francisco. Election Results The American Probation and Parole Association is pleased to announce the election of new officers and members of its Board of Directors. The newly elected officers are Brian Lovins, […]
NPR
08/22/2019
Jake Harper
Jason was hallucinating. He was withdrawing from drugs at an addiction treatment center near Indianapolis, and he had hardly slept for several days. “He was reaching for things, and he was talking to Bill Gates and he was talking to somebody else I’m just certain he hasn’t met,” his mother, Cheryl, says. She remembers finding […]
Indiana Public Media
08/21/2019
Brandon Smith
Loretta Rush will continue to serve as Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court for another five years.The state’s Judicial Nominating Commission officially reappointed her Wednesday. Rush’s reappointment as chief justice was a foregone conclusion as the commission formally met with each member of the five-person court. The other justices talked about challenges the court […]
NPR
08/14/2019
Will Stone
The first time Lori Tipton tried MDMA, she was skeptical it would make a difference. “I really was, at the beginning, very nervous,” Tipton remembers. MDMA is the main ingredient in club drugs ecstasy or molly. But Tipton wasn’t taking pills sold on the street to get high at a party. She was trying to […]
NPR
08/13/2019
Nina Feldman
Louis Morano knows what he needs, and he knows where to get it. Morano, 29, has done seven stints in rehab for opioid addiction in the past 15 years. So, he has come to a mobile medical clinic parked on a corner of Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood, in the geographical heart of the city’s overdose crisis. […]
07/25/2019
UPDATE: The Indiana Supreme Court denied transfer of the case on July 25, 2019. The Indiana Court of Appeals opinion (in our favor) was certified on July 29, 2019. Read the Court of Appeals opinion here. On January 22, 2019, POPAI authorized the filing of an Amicus Curiae brief drafted by counsel hired […]
WTHR
08/05/2019
Jennie Runevitch
BARTHOLOMEW COUNTY, Ind. (WTHR) — The Bartholomew County Jail has a new plan to battle Indiana’s ongoing problem of drug addiction. They’re advertising for a new position — Jail Addiction Treatment Program Coordinator. That person will work to break a cycle so many communities are dealing with: addiction, arrest, jail, repeat. By late winter, getting locked […]
NPR
07/29/2019
Martha Bebinger
Methamphetamine, an illegal drug that sends the body into overdrive, is surging through the United States. Federal drug data provided exclusively to NPR show seizures of meth by authorities have spiked, rising 142% between 2017 and 2018. “Seizures indicate increasing trafficking in these drugs,” says John Eadie, public health coordinator for the federal government’s National […]
The Herald-Tribune
07/01/2019
Debbie Blank
VERSAILLES – After Ripley County Circuit Court Judge Ryan King and Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Sharp took their offices in 2015, they successfully pursued a Community Corrections grant from the Indiana Department of Correction. The focus was to come up with alternatives to prison to lessen overcrowding. At the same time, Ripley County Court Services […]
WBEZ
05/11/2019
Quinn Myers
Today, if you’re under 18 and charged with a crime, your case will likely be decided, and punishment meted out, through a legal system designed for minors. But until the beginning of the 20th century, kids under the age of 18 were tried — and jailed or imprisoned — alongside adults. That is, until the […]
CNN
06/25/2019
Veronica Stracqualursi
Illinois is now the 11th state in the United States to legalize the purchase and possession of recreational marijuana. Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill Tuesday that allows adults 21 and over in the state to buy and possess small amounts of the drug. Adults will be able to purchase and possess 30 grams […]
The Indiana Lawyer
06/24/2019
Associated Press
Officials from two central Indiana counties are considering the possibility of opening a regional jail that they would share. County council members from Madison and Henry counties are expected to meet soon to discuss the process for what could be combined 800-bed facility. State Rep. Thomas Saunders of New Castle told The Herald Bulletin of […]
Northwest Indiana Times
06/17/2019
Sarah Reese
CROWN POINT — After reducing the number of children held in juvenile detention by more than 70 percent since 2010, Lake County now is shifting its focus to better preparing kids on probation for adulthood. Lake Juvenile Court Judge Thomas Stefaniak said he has given juvenile probation officers a clear directive to “treat (clients) as […]
NPR
06/18/2019
Carrie Johnson
Nearly half the people admitted to state prisons in the U.S. are there because of violations of probation or parole, according to a new nationwide study that highlights the personal and economic costs of the practice. The Council of State Governments Justice Center said the majority of these violations are for “minor infractions,” such as failing a […]
NPR
05/26/2019
Anna Boiko-Weyrauch
Two key ingredients came together for Shannon McCarty to get off drugs in late 2017: connections and timing. “The police showed up because they said they got a call that we were shooting up in the car,” Shannon said. Everett police officer, Inci Yarkut walked up to window of the car where Shannon was living. […]
NPR
05/23/2019
Jasmine Garsd
In 1998, Ichard Oden committed a crime that got him sent away for two decades. He was 19. He got out of prison in February. Today, he’s a 40-year-old man with very little job experience. As it turns out, Oden is coming back into society at a time when the economy is booming and attitudes […]
NPR
08/24/2019
Eric Westervelt
Faced with a flood of addicted inmates and challenged by lawsuits, America’s county jails are struggling to adjust to an opioid health crisis that has turned many of the jails into their area’s largest drug treatment centers. In an effort to get a handle on the problem, more jails are adding some form of medication-assisted […]
Law 360
03/24/2019
Michael Phillis
On Feb. 16, Rachael Michelle Olson received a text message telling her that three days later she was expected at Hennepin County, Minnesota, court at 1:30 p.m. She had no idea what was going on. “I was freaked out,” she said. Olson described the text as a complete surprise and said she did not know […]
03/06/2019
Chief Administrative Officer Justin Forkner has selected IOCS Justice Services Deputy Director Mary Kay Hudson to be the new Executive Director of the Indiana Office of Court Services.
The Crime Report
03/01/2019
Isidoro Rodriguez
The nation’s probation and parole systems, usually grouped under the category of Community Supervision, were designed to help people navigate the transition from prison back to civilian life—and become productive, law-abiding citizens. But they are more likely to make things worse for individuals—and by extension for their families and communities—say experts who believe it’s time […]
UPDATE: The Indiana Court of Appeals issued an opinion on March 19, 2019 affirming the trial court. Read the opinion here. On January 22, 2019, POPAI authorized the filing of an Amicus Curiae brief drafted by counsel hired by the Association in the Indiana Court of Appeals case number 18A-PL-02528. In the history of […]
The Indiana Lawyer
02/22/2019
Katie Stancombe
Concerns surrounding the way Indiana adjudicates and rehabilitates its juvenile offenders has resulted in the proposal of a summer interim committee to address how adequately the juvenile justice system is governed. Authored by Republican Sens. Victoria Spartz and Aaron Freeman, Senate Concurrent Resolution 16 would assign an interim study committee the task of assessing the laws […]
NPR
02/19/2019
Eric Westervelt & Barbara Brosher
Latosha Poston says she made a lot of mistakes in her life. Her legal troubles began in her teens after her first child was born in Indianpolis. Over the years, bad decisions led to some arrests, some convictions. “Sometimes we get stuck in our past and let our past guide us,” she says. The 44-year-old has […]
Indiana Office of Court Services
01/28/2019
Indiana Office of Court Services
The Indiana Office of Court Services is pleased to announce a Call for Papers for the 2019 Justice Services Conference. The conference will be held on August 6th – 8th, 2019 at the Indiana Convention Center. The conference will include all staff from Probation, Court Alcohol and Drug Programs and Problem-Solving Courts. With the increased […]
Houston Chronicle
01/18/2019
Gabrielle Banks
The new slate of Democratic judges have approved comprehensive revisions to Harris County’s bail system that could clear the way for thousands of people, regardless of income, to avoid spending time in jail while awaiting trial on minor offenses. The county judges plan to present their new court protocol to a federal judge, in a […]
The Indiana Lawyer
January 16, 2019
Katie Stancombe
A split Indiana Supreme Court denied a petition to transfer a homeless man’s probation violation appeal, with two justices writing in a published dissent that the litigant was an indigent man incarcerated for probation violations that resulted from his poverty, not his intentions. Chief Justice Loretta Rush and Justice Christopher Goff both dissented from the […]
Indiana Court Times
01/15/2019
Mary Kay Hudson
Part Two In 2016, eleven counties committed to participate in local criminal justice reform initiatives through Indiana’s Evidence-Based Decision Making (EBDM) Initiative in collaboration with the Indiana EBDM policy team (state team). Since then, all eleven counties, under the leadership of their local EBDM policy teams and guided by the state team, have launched pretrial […]
Pew Charitable Trusts
01/08/2019
Arizona probation chief envisions smaller, less punitive, more effective system Barbara Broderick has devoted most of her 40-year criminal justice career to improving state and local community supervision in Arizona and New York. Since December 2000, she has served as chief probation officer of the Maricopa County (Arizona) Adult Probation Department, the nation’s sixth-largest, with […]
FSSA
01/16/2019
Suzanne Tryan
Currently, per the Welfare Reform Act of 1996, individuals who are convicted of an offense that occurred on or after 8-22-96, and had an element of possession, use or distribution of a controlled substance, are ineligible for SNAP. Indiana passed legislation (IC 12-14-30-3) effective January 1, 2020, that will allow for SNAP applicants and recipients […]
Indiana Supreme Court
01/16/2019
Chief Justice Loretta Rush
Indiana Chief Justice Loretta H. Rush addressed the Governor and a joint session of the Indiana General Assembly for the annual State of the Judiciary. The formal update on the work of the judicial branch was held Wednesday, January 16, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. EST in the chamber of the Indiana House of Representatives. Read […]
WISH TV
01/10/2019
Elizabeth Choi
Johnson County is saving taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars by putting low-level offenders to work at an animal shelter. People who have been convicted of minor offenses, a misdemeanor or an infraction, qualify for the partnership between the court and the Johnson County Animal Shelter. A judge can order community service to be completed at the shelter. […]
Indiana Court Times
12/04/2018
Marcus Alan McGhee
A Snapshot of New Social Media Challenges Judiciaries across the nation appear to have received the message from judicial conduct commissions regarding vitriolic posts on social media platforms. Such commentary has been condemned as indecorous and lacking the unbiased impartiality required from the bench. However, as judicial discipline cases and advisory opinions about social media […]
Houston Chronicle
01/07/2019
Keri Blakinger and Gabrielle Banks
Less than a week after the new jurists were sworn into office, Harris County’s misdemeanor judges on Monday withdrew their appeal in the landmark lawsuit over local bail practices that a federal judge said unfairly targeted poor people accused of crimes. The historic litigation began in 2016, when attorneys and civil rights groups sued the […]
The Indiana Lawyer
01/02/2019
Dave Stafford
A man’s argument that the execution of a suspended sentence for a crime he committed while on probation was an unduly harsh sanction failed before the Indiana Court of Appeals. The COA on Monday affirmed a Bartholomew Circuit Court order requiring Nicholas L. Porter to serve two years that had been suspended to probation after […]
Indiana Office of Court Services
12/20/2018
To the Bench, Bar and Public: The Indiana Judicial Conference Board of Directors and Court Alcohol and Drug Program Advisory Committee (CADPAC) seek public comment on proposed amendments to Rules for Court-Administered Alcohol & Drug Programs. CADPAC proposes amending five sections and adding a new section on chemical testing. The most significant change is proposed […]
12/21/2018
The California Probation, Parole, and Corrections Association has a donation page for Butte County Probation staff and their families who have been evacuated or displaced (29), or lost their homes (19) in the Camp Fire. 100% of donations collected will go directly to the affected Probation Officers and their families. If you would like to […]
NPR
12/17/2018
Anya Kamenetz
Students in U.S. schools were less likely to be suspended in 2016 than they were in 2012. But the progress is incremental, and large gaps — by race and by special education status — remain. This data comes from an analysis of federal data for NPR in partnership with the nonprofit organization Child Trends. And […]
NPR
12/16/2018
Nina Feldman
For most of his life when he was in between jobs, Tim Tulvey would toss his resume up on a hiring site like Indeed.com. He had decades of management experience working for landscaping companies, and even owned his own pest control business for a while. “I was getting hits left and right,” Tulvey said, recalling […]
Indiana Task Force on Public Defense
12/14/2018
The Indiana Task Force on Public Defense has released a comprehensive report addressing the current strengths and challenges of Indiana’s public defense services. The Indiana Public Defender Commission has responded with a comprehensive public policy reform agenda. An information session will occur on Monday, December 17th from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Indiana […]
Indiana Office of Court Services
12/14/2018
The updates to the Probation Standards and Safety and Security Guide are now posted on the IOCS website. Please note that standard 1.25 requires probation departments to adopt policies on suicide awareness and prevention for adult and juvenile probation officers. New links for free online training opportunities have been added to the probation training page […]
WFIU/WTIU
12/13/2018
Sean Hogan
Studies are indicating fentanyl is causing more cases of deadly opioid overdoses than heroin. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that when overdosed usually results in the substance attacking areas in the brain that control respiration. Brad Ray is the Director of Indiana University Center for Health and Justice Research. He says all prescribed opioids have a […]
WFIU/WTIU
11/29/2018
Barbara Brosher
Officials in a central Indiana county says it’s more fiscally responsible to build a new jail than temporarily house some inmates in semitrailers. The biggest barrier for Hancock County continues to be funding the project. There were 242 people in the jail Thursday, which is designed to hold just under 160. The county asked taxpayers to support a […]
Division of Mental Health and Addiction
Brad Ray, Director, Center for Criminal Justice Research and Associate Professor, IUPUI School of Public and Environmental Affairs authored the Recovery Works Evaluation: Phase Two Policy Brief with research support from Evan Lowder, PhD, Research Associate, IUPUI School of Public and Environmental Affairs and Staci Rising Paquet, Program Analyst, Center for Criminal Justice Research. Description from the report: To […]
Indianapolis Star
10/30/2018
Ryan Martin
A new study reveals a long-suspected but previously-unproven truth in Indianapolis: Most opioid overdose deaths occur in just 5 percent of the city. And those are the same areas most wracked by violence, such as robberies and shootings. The study also provides preliminary evidence that a national public health epidemic — the opioid crisis — […]
NPR
10/29/2018
Shankar Vedamtam, Jennifer Schmidt, Parth Shah, Tara Boyle, and Camilla Vargas-Restrepo
Earlier this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a stunning statistic. Seventy-two thousand people, it estimates, died of drug overdoses in 2017. The huge increase in deaths is largely due to heroin and powerful synthetic opioids like fentanyl. One of the tools being used to fight that wave of deaths is the […]
NPR
10/25/2018
Frank Morris
The sharp rise in opioid abuse and fatal overdoses has overshadowed another mounting drug problem: Methamphetamine use is rising across the United States. “Usage of methamphetamine nationally is at an all-time high,” says Erik Smith, assistant special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Kansas City office. “It is back with a vengeance.” he […]
Indiana Public Media
10/17/2018
Jill Sheridan
A national Opioid Task Force held a field hearing in Indianapolis this week and provided a chance for the group to hear how legal interventions aid people with a substance use disorder. The justice system is often the first point of entry for someone with an addiction. Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush sits on the […]
NPR
10/5/2018
Jake Harper
Months in prison didn’t rid Daryl of his addiction to opioids. “Before I left the parking lot of the prison, I was shooting up, getting high,” he says. Daryl has used heroin and prescription painkillers for more than a decade. Almost four years ago he became one of more than 200 people who tested positive […]
Fox 59
09/26/2018
Kelly Reinke
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – A drug treatment program called New Beginnings at the Monroe County Jail is helping addicts while they are still behind bars. It started a little more than a year ago and it’s finding success. New Beginnings is a 90-day re-entry program. Participants in the program take life skills classes for the last […]
NBC News
09/20/2018
Maggie Fox
Efforts to fight the epidemic must focus on more than just the availability of certain drugs, the researchers say. The current opioid overdose crisis is actually part of a 40-year trend that is still headed upward, and current efforts to fight it may not be anywhere near enough, researchers said Thursday. A new analysis of […]
Indiana Public Media
09/18/2018
Brandon Smith
Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Loretta Rush says she’s encouraged by progress shown in a new type of specialty court. There are several types of so-called “problem-solving” courts. They include drug courts to help with the state’s addiction epidemic and others aimed at military veterans. Rush says one of the newest types is family recovery […]
CBS 4 Indy
09/20/2018
Russ McQuaid
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Recycle Force President Gregg Keesling knows all about tearing down television sets and electronics for recycling. He’s learning more about gunshot wounds and insurance for his employees. “It is fairly common for people in our program to be shot and return back to work. We’ve had people return the next day,” said […]
Indiana Task Force on Public Defense
09/12/2018
The Indiana Task Force on Public Defense (Task Force) presented its Final Report to the Indiana Public Defender Commission (Commission) on August 22, 2018. The report identified numerous systemic deficiencies and made recommendations for both immediate and long-term system reforms. The Commission has tentatively approved a legislative/policy reform agenda for 2019 and seeks public comment […]
Indiana Office of Court Services
09/13/2018
The Indiana Office of Court Services will be holding the Justice Services Conference on August 6-8, 2019 at the Indiana Convention Center. Though it is a year away, we are ready to start planning for this event and we would love your help! Like last year, we are opening a Call for Papers. If you […]
NPR
09/12/2018
Nina Feldman
Cristina Rivell has been struggling with an opioid addiction since she was a teenager — going in and out of rehab for five years. The most recent time, her doctor prescribed her a low dose of buprenorphine (often known by its brand name, Suboxone), a drug that helps curb cravings for stronger opioids and prevents […]
Indianapolis Star
08/26/2018
Billy Kobin
Nearly two years ago, 11 Indiana counties, including Hamilton and Hendricks, decided to try a different approach to handling those arrested and awaiting trial. Instead of setting money bail amounts, judges would use risk assessments to decide whether defendants should be held in jail or, more likely, simply be allowed to go home on the promise they would return […]
NPR
08/28/2018
Vanessa Romo
California will become the first state in the nation to abolish bail for suspects awaiting trial under a sweeping reform bill signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday. An overhaul of the state’s bail system has been in the works for years, and became an inevitability earlier this year when a California appellate court declared the […]
WFYI Indianapolis
08/22/2018
Barbara Brosher
An increasing number of Indiana school districts are turning to truancy courts to address issues with chronic absences. But, the focus isn’t on punishing students. The state defines chronic truancy as a student having at least 10 unexcused absences during one school year. Many districts across the state are adopting policies that aim to connect […]
Time
05/14/2018
Eliana Dockterman
The men file in, a few wearing pressed button-down shirts, others jeans caked in mud from work on a construction site. They meet in the living room of an old taupe bungalow on a leafy street in a small Southern city. Someone has shoved a workout bike into the corner to make room for a […]
NPR
08/04/2018
Eric Westervelt
As legalization of recreational and medical marijuana continues to expand, police across the country are more concerned than ever about stoned drivers taking to the nation’s roads and freeways, endangering lives. With few accurate roadside tools to detect pot impairment, police today have to rely largely on field sobriety tests developed to fight drunk driving […]
The Indiana Lawyer
07/25/2018
Olivia Covington
Lake Superior Judge Elizabeth Tavitas was on the bench on July 18 when her phone rang with a message that would change her career. It was a call from Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, informing her that she had been selected as Indiana’s next Court of Appeals judge. “I saw his (Holcomb’s) name light up on my […]
The Indiana Lawyer
07/25/2018
Katie Stancombe
It’s not uncommon for the Indiana Department of Child Services to hear it doesn’t have enough evidence to support its child welfare cases. Children in need of services cases that enter the court often leave shredded by judges for lack of a sufficient reasoning as to why they came before the bench without enough evidence […]
07/13/2018
Troy Hatfield
Greetings POPAI Membership: According to the POPAI Bylaws, Article XIV AMENDMENTS These bylaws may be altered, amended or repealed by the membership if a quorum is present at any regular or special meeting. Written notice of any proposed alteration to the bylaws shall be submitted to the President of the Executive Board at least sixty (60) […]
Indiana Court Times
06/21/2018
Justin P. Forkner
“Legacy. What is a legacy? It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see.” —Hamilton: An American Musical, by Lin-Manuel Miranda Jane Seigel officially retired on April 30, after 19 years of service to the Indiana Supreme Court. To Lin-Manuel Miranda’s point, the garden of reforms, outcomes, and initiatives Jane has planted will […]
CNN
05/22/2018
John Legend and Rashad Robinson
(CNN) – No one should have to stay in jail because they lack the money to buy their freedom. Yet every night, according to the Justice Department’s statistics, nearly 450,000 people who have not been convicted of a crime sit in jail, a large number trapped there simply because they don’t have enough money to post bail. […]
TechCrunch
05/20/2018
Megan Rose Dickey
On any given day in the United States, more than 450,000 people are behind bars awaiting their constitutionally mandated fair trial. None of them have been convicted of a crime — they’ve been accused of committing a crime, but no formal ruling of guilt or innocence has been made. That means these hundreds of thousands […]
NBC News
05/08/2018
Jon Schuppe
Google and Facebook, the world’s most dominant online-advertising companies, will no longer take money from America’s for-profit bail bond agencies, siding with a growing national movement to eliminate cash bail from the criminal justice system. The two tech giants said this week that their decisions to block bail-bond ads were part of a broader effort to […]
05/01/2018
There is tremendous local-level innovation occurring across the country aimed at reducing incarceration and making the criminal justice system more fair and effective at protecting communities. To support such innovative thinking nationwide, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has partnered with the Urban Institute to launch the Innovation Fund. The purpose of the Innovation Fund is to […]
05/09/2018
It’s time for the annual POPAI Elections. Up for election in 2018: President Secretary District 2 District 4 District 6 District 8 POPAI District 5 Representative Melanie Pitstick is serving as the Election Committee Chair. Intent to Run Form The Intent to Run form must be sent to Melanie by July 6, 2018 (postmarked, emailed, […]
Indiana University
04/26/2018
Indiana University
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — As the opioid crisis deepens across the country, researchers at Indiana University have released a series of research-driven, potential solutions. Their report is part of the university’s Responding to the Addictions Crisis Grand Challenge initiative. The researchers call for broader and more robust harm-reduction strategies, programs to reduce the stigma of substance use […]
WFYI Indianapolis
04/20/2018
Barbara Brosher
The Indiana Supreme Court heard arguments Friday in a case that raises questions about what avenues juveniles have for seeking relief if they think their cases weren’t handled properly. The case illustrates larger challenges with Indiana’s juvenile justice system, because kids don’t have the same avenues for relief as adults in the criminal justice system. […]
WISH-TV
04/24/2018
Eric Feldman
KOKOMO, Ind. (WISH) — Some veterans in trouble with the law will have the chance to avoid jail time by participating in a new program to help steer their lives in the right direction. It’s called veterans court. It’s already being done in several places around the state, including Marion and Hamilton counties, but a […]
Indiana Lawyer
03/20/2018
Olivia Covington
The Vigo Superior Court must provide a man convicted of resisting and spitting on local law enforcement officers with a written list of his specific probation conditions after the Indiana Court of Appeals found discrepancies and vagueness in the conditions provided. In Dustin McCarty v. State of Indiana, 84A04-1707-CR-1599, a Terre Haute police officer encountered Dustin […]
Indianapolis Star
03/16/2018
Shari Rudavsky
Linking people with substance use disorders to the treatment they need to kick their addiction has just become easier in Indiana. The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration Thursday announced a new partnership with a software platform that can help social workers find openings at treatment facilities. The partnership, funded by money from the 21st Century Cures […]
New York Times
03/21/2018
Amy Bach
Criminal justice data in this country is hard to come by. It can be messy and difficult to understand. And in many cases, the data doesn’t exist at all. How many people are in jail? For what crimes? For how long? Are people in jail mostly awaiting trial? Are they there for being unable to […]
02/16/2018
We currently have seven jobs posted on the POPAI website. Positions are open in Ripley, Monroe, Lawrence, Jasper, Madison, Huntington, and Wayne Counties. The Indiana Association of Community Corrections Act Counties also has jobs posted on their website: IACCAC Jobs. Please check out the job postings!
Indiana University
02/05/2018
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana University School of Nursing Dean and Distinguished Professor Robin Newhouse has announced the Phase One projects of the Responding to the Addictions Crisis Grand Challenges initiative. As part of IU’s $50 million commitment to prevent, reduce and treat addictions in Indiana, initial pilot grants feature collaborative teams of faculty members, researchers, community organizations […]
Kokomo Perspective
January 29, 2018
Devin Zimmerman
Probation, corrections merger hoped to help with caseload overload Big changes are in the works for the local judicial system. Last week the Howard County Community Corrections Advisory Board unanimously approved an agreement aimed at merging the local probation and community corrections department. With the probation department bogged down by high caseloads, officials hope the […]
Kokomo Tribune
January 25, 2018
George Myers
The Howard County work release center has accepted its first two inmates, bringing an end to months of anticipation and speculation about the much-debated program. The center, housed in the former county jail on Berkley Road, received its first inmate Wednesday and its second Thursday, and has already displayed, in a small way, the effect […]
Purdue University Agricultural Communications
11/30/2017
Darrin Pack
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A consortium of eight Indiana agricultural and public health organizations will host a statewide symposium focusing on the significant impact of the opioid crisis in rural and farming communities. The symposium is scheduled for Jan. 5, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at the Boone County Fairgrounds, 1300 Hwy. 100 S, Lebanon. […]
Sentinel & Enterprise
12/26/2017
Sam Cote
Boston University Statehouse Program BOSTON — Consider this: You are fined as punishment for some offense. You can’t pay this fine and wind up in jail. Upon release you still don’t have the money to pay the fine or the means to avoid the behavior you were fined for in the first place. You are […]
Indiana Criminal Justice Institute
12/01/2017
House Enrolled Act 1006 (HEA1006; July 1, 2014), also known as Public Law 168, mandates that the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI) provide a comprehensive annual report of HEA1006’s impact on the Indiana criminal justice system. Annual reports in 2015 and 2016 were completed by the Sagamore Institute. ICJI sought to build on the Sagamore […]
Indiana Office of Court Services
10/24/2017
The Indiana Office of Court Services has announced the First Annual Justice Services Conference to be held on May 9th – 11th, 2018 at the Indiana Convention Center. The conference will include all staff from Probation, Court Alcohol and Drug Programs and Problem-Solving Courts. With the increased number of sessions being offered, they have opened […]
NPR
11/16/2017
Jake Harper
Addiction specialists caution against reading too much into a new study released this week that compares two popular medications for opioid addiction. This much-anticipated research is the largest study so far to directly compare the widely used treatment Suboxone with relative newcomer Vivitrol. Researchers who compared the two drugs found them equally effective once treatment […]
NPR
October 5, 2017
Eric Westervelt
There’s about 10 feet between Judge Craig Hannah’s courtroom bench and the place where a defendant stands to be arraigned here in Buffalo City Court. But for 26-year-old Caitlyn Stein, it has been a long, arduous 10 feet. “This is your first day back! Good to see you!” Judge Hannah says as he greets her. […]
The Texas Tribune
10/02/2017
Jolie McCullough
The next chapter in Harris County’s saga over bail practices is set to play out in federal court Tuesday morning, and officials involved in pretrial processes throughout Texas are holding their breath. The state’s most populous county is involved in a complicated fight over how its bail procedures impact poor misdemeanor defendants awaiting trial. A federal lawsuit questions the constitutionality of the […]
NBC News
08/22/2017
Jon Schuppe
JERSEY CITY, N.J. ─ On the ground floor of a deteriorating county courthouse, in a room outfitted with temporary office furniture and tangles of electrical wires, a cornerstone of America’s criminal justice system is crumbling. A 20-year-old man in a green jail jumpsuit appears on a video monitor that faces a judge. It is early June, and he […]
The Pew Charitable Trusts
04/07/2017
Michael Ollove
A dearth of beds at state psychiatric hospitals in many parts of the country and shortages of mental health resources mean that mentally ill people who commit minor crimes often end up languishing in jails, which are poorly equipped to handle their illnesses. It’s a difficult problem that, without intervention, creates a grim cyclical pattern: […]
06/30/2017
The Indiana Supreme Court has created a one-stop shop for public information and other tools. Using the Indiana Courts Public Portal (https://public.courts.in.gov/home/portal) you can quickly find links to search trial court cases (myCase) and protection orders. You will also find links to helpful tools such as a criminal sentence credit time calculator and child support […]
Indiana Court Times
05/30/2017
Court Times
Mobile app provides guidance on sharing children’s records Do you know how to obtain children’s educational, court, or health records? Do you know under what circumstances you can share these records with others? There is a mobile app to help you with these complex questions: the Information Sharing Guide. The Commission on Improving the Status […]
NPR
November 3, 2015
Carrie Johnson
Over the past few days, thousands of federal prisoners have been leaving confinement early and returning to their communities — the result of changes to sentencing guidelines for drug-related crimes. And who will be monitoring those former inmates? In some ways, the buck stops with Matthew Rowland. He’s the chief of the probation and […]
Indiana Judicial Center
11/22/2015
At the Probation Officer Regional Meetings this year, the Indiana Judicial Center (IJC) presented information on HEA 1006 grant funding. The attached Power Point presented by IJC includes highlights, application tips, collaboration examples, and information about the grant requests coming out very shortly. Any questions should be directed to Jane Seigel, Jenny Bauer, and/or Mary […]
NUVO
09/30/2015
Mary Kuhlman
Experts attending a conference in Phoenix, Arizona this week are saying “no more solitary confinement for kids.” The harm it causes, including deaths, is too great according to advocates at the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) 2015 Inter-Site Conference. JDAI programs are in place in 19 Indiana counties, with the goal of keeping kids out […]
Associated Press
02/24/2015
Eileen Sullivan & Ronnie Greene
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — On a hot Friday last July, a parolee was mowing a lawn in a small cul-de-sac on the west side of the city when he stopped to ask for a glass of water. The 70-year-old widow whose yard he was mowing told him to wait on her porch. Instead, she […]