Work-release changes explored
By BRYAN CORBIN Courier & Press staff writer
April 28, 2005
Submitted to GOPOPAI by Cherie Wood, District 8

In the aftermath of last week's triple-murder-suicide by a man on work-release, the sheriff and three judges met Wednesday about possible changes to Vanderburgh County's community corrections program.

The judges said when they consider removing an inmate from work-release, they would like more information, which Sheriff Brad Ellsworth said he can provide. Larger issues of accountability and employment verification also might be discussed when the entire Community Corrections Advisory Board considers the shootings at an upcoming meeting. The board's next regular meeting is set for May 19, but Ellsworth wants to schedule a special meeting before then.


Advertisement



Questions persist since last Friday's shootings that left four dead in Evansville. While away from the Community Corrections Complex (also known as the SAFE House) for his work-release job, inmate Travis Moore shot and killed his ex-girlfriend Sheena Sandage-Shofner, 28, and her friends Tara Jenkins, 24, and Alfonzo Small, 28, then took his own life. Another victim, Lucas Hensley, 26, escaped.

Inmates sentenced to work- release are incarcerated at the Community Corrections Complex but allowed to leave for employment. Moore, 21, was serving time for a robbery conviction. He ran afoul of the program's rules in January when he tested positive for marijuana and methamphetamine.

Though a Community Corrections officer had filed what's called a "petition to revoke" Moore's work-release participation, Moore ultimately was sentenced back into the Community Corrections Complex.

Ellsworth met Wednesday with Superior Court judges Wayne Trockman and Scott Bowers and Circuit Court Judge Carl Heldt.

"We've reviewed the file very carefully. It appears that, while what happened was tragic, that all the procedures were followed and that all appropriate information was available at the petition-to-revoke hearing," Trockman said. The prosecution, community corrections and defense all had agreed in February that Moore should be returned to the work-release center after his drug relapse, Trockman said. In deciding whether to send other work-release violators to jail or accept them back into the program, the judges suggested they need more background information from community corrections - such as a case manager's notes of any inmate misconduct that didn't merit filing a petition to revoke, Trockman said.

Ellsworth said that the background could include a summary of the inmates' term in work -release, any rule violations or positive drug screenings, classes completed, work history and any periods of unaccounted-for time.

It also could include the pre-sentence investigation detailing the offender's criminal record and family background, he said.

Exactly who would now speak for community corrections at petition-to-revoke hearings is undetermined. The judges suggest the sheriff designate a supervisor to speak on behalf of all case managers, but Ellsworth, who runs the program, said he must review staffing first.

Ellsworth also favors community corrections making documented recommendations to judges on whether a violating inmate should be allowed back into the work-release center or not. Moore was allowed out of the work-release center during late-night hours for his job cleaning parking lots. "More accountability obviously is a good thing, but not all individuals have jobs where they are punching a clock, or have a supervisor who has them in view on a constant basis," Trockman said. Ellsworth and Trockman anticipate the 15-member Community Corrections Advisory Board will discuss larger issues arising from the shootings at its upcoming meeting. The board has representatives from the judges, prosecutor, the County Commissioners and Council Council, and civilians.

"We wanted to bring it up and have an open and frank discussion," Trockman said. "If the advisory board wants to institute any changes as a result of what's happened, we (judges) want to be a part of that discussion."

In other developments in the shooting investigation, Evansville police said the 9-mm handgun Moore used had its serial numbers scratched off. Who owned the gun and how Moore obtained it are unknown.

The gun will be turned over to the Indiana State Police lab, which, through ballistics analysis, could determine if the gun ever had been used in any other crimes, said Evansville police spokeswoman Sgt. Stephanie Loehrlein.