The state’s decision to close detention and diversion centers, as well as the last of Georgia’s boot camps for youth offenders, could save more than $10 million.
But Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard says the decision is going to handcuff prosecutors and judges.
“Some things are worth spending money for, and protecting the public is one of those things,” said Ballard.
“This action by the state will take another tool away from us. The fewer tools we have, the less effectively we can do the job.”
Officials at the State Department of Corrections say making the move makes sense because the centers and boot camps have been under used in recent years.
But Ballard disagrees.
“We use diversion and detention centers a great deal in our sentencing phases in Fayette County,” said Ballard.
“And we took advantage of the youth boot camps when they were available.
“I can’t understand why the state believes these centers were under used.”
Through the diversion centers, defendants would work during the day, and pay room and board while staying at the center at night.
“Not only are the defendants being punished, they are making restitution to the victims.
“By the time they leave the centers, they have done their time, paid back the victims, and paid for their room and board.
“Closing these and taking this tool away from us just doesn’t make sense to me.”
Ballard also pointed out that when sentenced to a diversion or detention center, the defendant must serve the full sentence.
“There is no time off for good behavior or anything like that,” he said.
“Also this way, the victim knows exactly how long the defendant will be incarcerated.
“The only option now is going to be putting them in prison or save money and let these people go free.
“I’m for spending the money to keep these people off the streets.”
Ballard is also disappointed with the decision to close the last of the youth boot camps that then-Gov. Zell Miller started in the early 1990s. The last open camp is in Haralson County in west Georgia.
While the General Assembly cut the funding for probation and diversion centers when it approved the FY 09 budget, closing the boot camp is the idea of the Department of Corrections to save money.
“We’ve lost so many tools in juvenile courts already,” said Ballard.
“The boot camps turned to 90 day programs, then it went to 60 days. Now, they’re taking them away completely.
“That’s a shame because some of the most dangerous offenders out there are juveniles who haven’t had time to grow up.”
He pointed to Holly Harvey and Sandy Ketchum, the Fayette County teenagers who were 15 and 16 when they brutally killed Harvey’s grandparents.
“I haven’t seen anything that horrible in a long time, and these two girls were juveniles.”
Probation detention centers are essentially mini-prisons where offenders do supervised work detail for no pay.
Diversion centers allow the offender to work for pay.
“These are very common for cases of probation revocation,” said Ballard. “They allow the probation officers to accomplish their objectives. If we take them away, the probationers are going to feel there is no threat.”
The DOC has closed the diversion centers in Atlanta, Thomasville, Griffin Augusta, Albany and Walton County They have also closed the Rockdale-DeKalb Probation Detention Center.
|
