At the regularly scheduled February 21 meeting, the Henry County Board of Commissioners passed a series of resolutions approving grant applications to the state’s Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC) for Henry County’s Accountability Courts.
The Henry County Accountability Courts include Juvenile, Adult Felony Drug, Resource, Veterans and DUI Courts. These courts offer judicial alternatives to long term incarceration in the form of rehabilitative programs such as counseling and group therapy coupled with court supervision.
Craig Ogilvie, Director of Accountability Courts for Henry County, says the benefits of these programs are twofold.
“We put lives back together by giving people who are struggling the tools they need to re-integrate and thrive in society,” Ogilvie said. “But we also provide substantial cost savings. On average we save about $15,000 per person per year in taxpayer dollars when we divert these individuals from jail or prison.”
Any state grants require a 12% local match. Ogilvie says that any grant awards will be invested in resources and personnel.
“We use grant funds for drug testing supplies and labor, treatment personnel and community surveillance. We pay our deputies overtime to do curfew checks and things like that in the community.”
The need for these funds is rising as the number of referrals to the already stretched Accountability Court system rises.
“We are seeing about a 50% increase in referrals this year,” said Ogilvie. “The courts are getting out from under a backlog that occurred during the pandemic, which is resulting in individuals getting sent our way at a faster rate. Right now, we have a little over 100 residents spread across the five Accountability Courts, with some at capacity. State dollars would give us the bandwidth to take on anywhere from 150 to 200 participants.”
Admittance to the Accountability Courts is a selective process.
“We are very intentional about the individuals we take on,” said Ogilvie. “We limit crime that would be classified as violent to a small percentage. We diligently look for cases where the underlying cause of the crime is something we can help with. That may be a young person who stole something to sell it and use the money to buy drugs. Perhaps a service veteran using alcohol as a destructive form of self-treatment when they need professional help dealing with a challenge like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. And so on.”
The County’s work providing alternatives to incarceration is a collaborative effort between the courts, law enforcement, the prosecutors’ offices, public defenders, community supervision, and the immediate staff under Ogilvie, who offer the necessary treatment, therapy and case management. There is optimism that the grants will move forward and these meaningful programs can continue growing and serving more members of the Henry County community.
For more information or to view the meeting in its entirety, visit co.henry.ga.us/watchTV or log on to the Henry County Government Facebook page.
