News

24/7 Sobriety Program Offers Alternative To Jail Time While Saving County Tax Dollars

County 17 reports that, ” Campbell County was among the first in the state to launch a 24/7 program, which began at the CCSO in September 2017. Since its inception, the 24/7 program has been helping participants – and taxpayers – alike.”

“Campbell County Sheriff Scott Matheny is pleased with the success of the program thus far, he said during a recent interview with County 17, both in terms of saving the county money as well as providing first-time and non-violent offenders with a structured, no-nonsense regimen.”

High-Risk Impaired Drivers: Combating a Critical Threat

The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) in partnership with Responsibility.org calls for a systemic and holistic approach to high-risk impaired drivers that focuses on the individual and the need to treat the underlying problem prompting the unsafe behavior. The spotlight report, High-Risk Impaired Drivers: Combating a Critical Threat, seeks to help State Highway Safety Offices (SHSOs) and their partners effectively address the problem of high-risk impaired drivers. The report notes that alcohol-impaired fatalities accounted for 29 percent of all U.S. motor vehicle deaths in 2018, the lowest percentage since 1982

New Pennington County fund to defray costs for some 24/7 program participants

It is reported that Pennington County was granted $1.75 million from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to find ways to reduce incarceration. $20,000 of that money was ear-marked last week for an “indigent fund”.

With the indigent fund, money will only be available for a person if they meet certain criteria and a circuit court judge approves the use by a defendant.

“They have to be deemed indigent by the court, [they] have to be on bond, and they can only do it one time,” said Whitcher.

The new Government has a huge opportunity to reduce alcohol-fueled crime

Keith Humpreys, in The Project for Modern Democracy writes that in the UK,”the new Government will no doubt be expected to respond to the rise in knife crime . Such crime is a serious concern, but for every such offence there are about 15 violent crimes in which the victim judges that the offender is under the influence of alcohol.

Dr. Humphreys discusses sobriety programs that have been piloted in the UK.