That's the title of an article in the Houston Chronicle reporting on special courts in adjacent Fort Bend County that provide heavy supervision of people serving probated sentences. LINK
The people in front of Clark are on probation for various felonies and are appearing in Special Sanctions Court at the Fort Bend County courthouse. It is one of five relatively new special courts in the county providing close scrutiny of probationers for crimes ranging from misdemeanor DWI to aggravated robberies.
Those in the program agree to appear regularly before a judge as the court closely monitors their activities.
If they commit an infraction, the judge may send them to jail for a few days to serve as a wakeup call.
The goal is to help offenders complete probation instead of getting into the kind of trouble that could send them to pri- son.
Supporters of special courts say improving probation success could ease prison crowding and ultimately save taxpayer money.
Since the special sanctions court started two years ago, probation revocations in Fort Bend County have dropped by 12 percent.
Fort Bend officials say the courts are still in the pilot stage but are confident that — in addition to freeing up prison space — they will slash the number of people who fail probation and who sometimes commit more crimes.
Statewide, 55 percent of felony probation revocations are caused by technical violations of probation, not the commission of another felony, said Leighton Iles, director of the county's probation department.
Technical violations can include failing a drug test or not paying court fees or restitution.
Iles said the special sanctions court is designed to reduce technical violations and cut down probation revocations. Iles said that in the five years leading up to 2004, Fort Bend County averaged 211 probation revocations annually.
Lawmakers in the next regular Texas legislative session will debate whether to build additional prisons or expand programs like the one in Fort Bend County. More can be found here.
Comments