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Lincoln approves home incarceration program

February 13, 2008|STEPHANIE SCHELL

STANFORD - Dialogue began about a home incarceration program at Lincoln County Regional Jail in November, and Fiscal Court took action Tuesday. A one-year contract with Bridges in Communities, a home incarceration company, was approved.

It is hoped the home incarceration program will save the county money and relieve the overcrowding issues at the jail. It's also thought the program could save the sheriff's department money and time transporting juveniles back and forth from Adair County Juvenile Detention Center.

As of today, the daily cost to house an inmate in Lincoln County Jail is $29.07. Any inmate who qualifies for the home incarceration program will be asked to pay the county $20 a day.

For those who can't afford to pay that, a sliding pay scale may be available. Even if the county has to pick up the full fee, the cost still would be less than housing the inmate in jail, said County Attorney Daryl Day.

The county will ultimately be responsible for making sure Bridges in Communities receives its $20 a day for every inmate who participates in the program, though. Judge-Executive Buckwheat Gilbert said any money the county has to pay will likely come from the jail fund.

Program for non-violent offenders

Those who qualify for the program likely will be determined by a judge, Day said. Examples of who may qualify are nonviolent offenders such as those who have received convictions for driving under the influence or non-payment of child support.

Bridges in Communities does more than just hand out the electronic monitoring devices to inmates. Other responsibilities of the company include random drug testing when recommended, random home and job visits as deemed necessary, immediate reporting of violations, 24-hour crisis intervention and documentation of progress.

Inmates with split, tri-split, weekend and work release sentences, and those with pretrial releases all have the potential to participate in the program. An inmate runs the risk of being sent back to jail if he or she violates any terms of the home incarceration agreements.

Fiscal Court agreed to a one-year contract with the company to begin as soon as possible as opposed to the three-year contract originally proposed.

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