Costs increase for county after state passes probation law

As responsibility for underage offenders is transferred from the Department of Health and Human Services to the Office of Probation Administration, the burden of finding more office space for probation is placed on counties.

A discussion about a possible location to house additional staff needed for local probation’s new responsibilities brought out some frustration on the county commissioner’s part about where the county will find funds for this undertaking.

“Unfortunately, when they do things in Lincoln, the fiscal responsibility goes back to the counties to take care of it,” said commissioner Harold Winkelman.

The bill responsible for this change, LB 561, was passed by the Nebraska Legislature in May of last year. This bill and the associated legislation bring extensive reform to the juvenile justice system in an effort to expand services and allow alternatives to detention for youth in Nebraska, according to the Nebraska State Bar Association.

The commissioners expressed their displeasure with the way in which this new law is being implemented.

“I don’t object to what they’re doing, but I object to the way they’re doing it,” Winkelman said. “The state ought to step up to the plate and say OK, this is our program, we’re gonna help pay for part of that rental space.”

Although the county receives grant money earmarked for probation space, the amount is far from enough to fund the needed changes. It is up to the county to find a building or rental space for probation, which is difficult to fit into the budget.

Cheyenne County has an agreement with Deuel County and Kimball County to pool funds for additional probation space in Cheyenne County to be used by all three counties. Funds received for 2013 included around $7,600 for Cheyenne County, $2,500 for Deuel county and $2,800 allocated to Kimball County. Each county is required to make a 40 percent match, which brings the total for 2013 to around $18,000 for all three counties.

This award money must be spent by June 30 or the county loses the funds. The counties expect to receive grant money this year as well, but it won’t last forever.

“It’s just an annual thing, that’s just a band-aid for long term,” Winkelman said.

Although county attorney Paul Schaub acknowledged that the grant money was helpful, he understands the commissioners’ frustration.

“Well, they’re (the state) making an effort to make a contribution,” Schaub said. “I don’t know if that is enough for some of the counties.”

The county’s budget was already very tight, even before dealing with this issue, said commissioner Ken McMillen.

“The only thing we’re surviving on is increased valuation,” he added. “If we didn’t have that, we’d be dead in the water.”

When the state forces the county into these situations, it’s unsettling, McMillen continued.

“You know part of the problem is that we apparently don’t know how many personnel are gonna add to this thing here,” Winkelman said. “So if you’re renting one office maybe that’s not gonna be enough.”

McMillen agreed that the commissioners must know how many new staff members will be coming to Sidney and what type of local facility the probation administration needs before making any decisions.

Jeannine Lane, CEO of the McConaughy Discovery Center, offered the commissioners the possibility of using a building she owns next to the court house for additional probation office space.

“It’s a very fast transition for probation to have to take over those youth that used to be under the Department of Health and Human Services,” Lane said.

Lane offered to sell, share or lease the property. Lane agreed to come back to the commissioners soon with purchase and rental prices and promised to be reasonable.

Changes put in place by LB 561 include expansion and improvements to diversion programs in the state. These are in efforts to prevent youth from entering the juvenile justice system.

These changes to the system will be implemented in a three step program which began July 1 2013 and are set to be completed by July 1 of this year.

This new law is causing and will continue to cause big changes for local probation offices.

One of the probation district’s new duties will be to do intensive supervision for young people recently released from youth rehabilitation and treatment centers like the one in Kearney. In the past, these kids would have been on parole and under the supervision of HHS.