Montgomery County, which established its community corrections program in March, will receive $51,000 that will allow for an increase in the number of the number of inmates in its program, said Director John Hamm.

Montgomery County has about 100 people sentenced to its community corrections program, Hamm said. He did not specify how many more might be able to enter the program due to the new funding.

"It will allow us to get paid for the full 12 months and keep from having to put the burden back on the county" because the state money will fund the expansion, Hamm said.

The new money comes from a supplemental appropriation to the Department of Corrections approved by the Legislature earlier this year. It will be divided among the 18 counties where community corrections programs already exist, along with providing $75,000 to Escambia and $50,000 to Lawrence counties to get their programs started.

Circuit Judge John Bush, who presides over the 19th Judicial District that includes Elmore, Autauga and Chilton counties, said there has been talk about community corrections in his district, but little action toward actually starting such a program.

"I think it's good. I think it's needed. It's something we're considering, but not something we're doing right now," Bush said. "We really haven't had the time to work on it much. It's difficult to spearhead something like this and put it together when you've got to work with officials from three different counties."

Community corrections includes drug court, county probation, pre-trial diversion and other programs that allow nonviolent offenders to serve sentences in their communities instead of prison. Participants are supervised closely and required to pay a portion of the program's cost.

The state pays county programs $5 to $15 per day for each inmate diverted from prison. About 1,500 people participate, Hamm said.

"The average cost to keep a person in county corrections is $6 a day, compared to $27 a day in state prison," Hamm said. "That's a heck of a bargain."

Department of Corrections spokesman Brian Corbett said the state eventually hopes community corrections programs will be used in all of Alabama's 67 counties.

"Community corrections is one small piece of the puzzle needed to alleviate prison overcrowding in this state," Corbett said.

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