Monroe County officials are beginning work on a program they hope will reduce the number of people in the county’s jail and keep offenders from missing court appointment.
The Indiana Supreme Court is also keeping an eye the Monroe County program to see if it is an example of a system that can be expanded statewide.
Using a $40,000 grant from the Indiana Supreme Court, the Monroe Circuit Court Probation Department will start what’s called a pretrial release program.
It consists of a probation officer meeting with low-level offenders, screening them, then recommending whether they should be released to home detention or another community corrections program instead of being kept in jail while they wait for a trial.