Official presents first-time offender plan
By Marty Roney and Mike Linn
Montgomery Advertiser
District Attorney Randall Houston represents the 19th Judicial Circuit, which includes Autauga, Chilton and Elmore counties. He's seeking legislation to establish a pre-trial diversion program for first-time, nonviolent offenders.
"As the counties in the circuit grow, we are seeing more and more cases involving people who basically just made a stupid decision," said Houston, who is known for his hard-nosed approach to justice and sometimes inflammatory comments about crime and criminals. "They are in their mid-20s to late 40s, have good jobs and families and have never been in trouble before. For whatever reason, they decide to try marijuana and get caught. They deserve to face some type of consequences, but I don't think you should destroy someone's life in a situation like that."
Under the proposed program, a person would plead guilty and participate in a six- to nine-month counseling program and pay any and all restitution and court costs. If they complete the program, the charge won't go on their record. The person would be responsible for paying the $200 to $300 cost of the program.
"I don't want the taxpayers footing the bill for this. I want the person who did the crime paying the cost," Houston said. "If they don't complete the program, they go back before a judge and we start all over again. A felony follows you forever. There are ways to get your record expunged, but an FBI number doesn't go away. Under this program, a person who gets a little sideways can still go to college, keep their job, vote or even go to law school."
Houston's office handles about 25,000 cases a year.
John Bush, presiding judge for the 19th Judicial Circuit, said the diversion program wouldn't lighten his caseload. He said judges already use an informal diversion program, with Houston recommending who should be allowed to participate. The formal program would be better, he said, because a citizen committee would recommend who qualifies for the program.
The judge, he said, makes the final decision.
Montgomery County has had a pretrial diversion program since 1976, first funded through federal grants and now by the Montgomery County Commission, District Attorney Ellen Brooks said.
First-time, nonviolent offenders who have been charged with felony crimes such as theft, embezzlement and check forgery are eligible for the program, said Carter Papke, director of the program.
"These guys don't want to ruin the rest of their lives with a felony conviction after making one stupid mistake," Papke said.
Less than 2 percent of the people who enter the program in Montgomery reoffend, and $158,422 was returned to victims through restitution, Papke said. Currently, there are 169 people in the program, he said. Clients in the program have to complete 300 hours of community service, maintain a job, attend individual and group counseling, pay full restitution to the victims and further their education, he said.
Getting another chance seems to "temper justice with mercy," said Cindy Sanders of Autauga County.
"If you haven't hurt anyone else and you pay for what you did, I can support letting you have an opportunity to turn your life around," she said. "If it's not a serious crime we're talking about, everybody deserves a chance to make things right."
Houston also looks at the program with a practical eye. Recidivism rates in circuits that don't have a diversion plan run about 70 percent, compared with about 4 percent in circuits that have programs in place, he said.
"Of course, you have to carefully choose people who take part in the program," he said. "They have to be motivated to make things work. There are some people who need to be in jail; thieves, rapists and child molesters. And there are some that need a little help to help themselves. That's what we want to do with this program."
