With minor changes, the commission on Monday unanimously approved articles of incorporation for the Shelby County Community Corrections Corporation.

The move will help shield the commission from some liability and will allow more flexibility for private entities to assist participants in the drug program.
 
"Look at this as a potential vehicle to ... bring together adult drug court, adult work release and other tasks connected with community corrections, pre-sentencing and post-sentencing," said County Manager Alex Dudchock at Monday's County Commission meeting.

Drug court is an alternative sentencing program where nonviolent first-time drug offenders can have their cases dismissed if they fulfill a six-month program of weekly drug screenings and counseling, as well as weekly court appearances.

Work-release is a program where nonviolent offenders avoid incarceration in the county jail by reporting at night to a barracks lockup, but they spend their days working for private employers. They pay a supervision fee from their paychecks.

Work-release already existed as a separate entity, but the adult drug court was created two years ago using contract employees and county employees under the joint supervision of Dudchock and Circuit Judge J. Michael Joiner.

Joiner said a nonprofit corporation increases the ability to work with private groups.

"The nonprofit will have ways to be supported, in which the county cannot be, by the community," he said.

For example, Joiner said, if the Rotary Club wanted to give $100 to the drug program, the County Commission, as a public entity, could not spend the money to help individuals.

"Dealing with the county has been a good thing, but they are willing to fund us in a form that has greater flexibility," he said. "And by having control of the board, they still control us. And that is fine. I am happy with that, too."

Joiner cited an example of that flexibility:

"There are people in our drug court who truly need to have their medical treatment paid for," he said. "I cannot ask the county, and the county cannot - because of the auditing problems it would cause - pay the bill to send `John Jones' to the doctor. Well, `John Jones' can't get over his drug addiction if he can't get over his physical illness."

A nonprofit corporation, he said, can turn to private agencies and seek contributions to cover such medical care. "Then, with the county in charge of it, you know it is going to be closely monitored, but it does not have to meet the same standards of a state audit-type thing."

The same agencies now represented on the work-release board will sit on the new board, with two additions.

Five members of the new corporation's seven-member board will be Chief Assistant District Attorney Bill Bostick, County Finance Manager Butch Burbage, Dudchock, Public Defender Bob Williams and Chief Deputy Sheriff John Samaniego.

Two more seats:

Where the document Dudchock presented to the commission contained only those five, the commission, at the urging of Commissioner Larry Dillard, added two seats for a county commissioner and a representative of the general public.

Commission Chairwoman Lindsey Allison said creating the nonprofit was unrelated to the abrupt dismissal earlier this year of a drug court counselor for violating nonfraternization rules with clients.

"This was under discussion before that matter ever came up," Allison said. "It was about September or October of last year."

She said the new corporation was the result of program administrators realizing "they needed our assistance and, at the same time, an outside incorporated agency to receive funds and in-kind contributions."