Prosecutor rejoins the fight on petty crime.Byline: Bill Bishop The Register-Guard Petty criminals in Lane County will no longer get the free ride they've enjoyed the past three years, under a new, modified prosecution program announced Thursday. Low-level offenders will have the option of paying to enroll in a private company's home study course to avoid conviction on crimes such as breaking into cars, driving with a suspended sus·pend v. sus·pend·ed, sus·pend·ing, sus·pends v.tr. 1. To bar for a period from a privilege, office, or position, usually as a punishment: suspend a student from school. license or stealing less than $750. Lane County District Attorney Doug Harcleroad halted prosecution of such crimes, except in egregious e·gre·gious adj. Conspicuously bad or offensive. See Synonyms at flagrant. [From Latin cases, in early 2004 to meet a $271,000 budget cut in his office. The move eliminated about 1,500 prosecutions annually. Since then, the district attorney's office has crunched the numbers at least a dozen times seeking a way to get back into the business of prosecuting misdemeanors, Chief Deputy District Attorney Alex Gardner Alexander Gardner (April 28, 1861 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada - June 18, 1926) is a former Canadian major league catcher. He played in his only game on May 10, 1884. He went 0-3 at the plate. External links
Given the shortage of jail space in Lane County, the new program is not a get-tough, lock-them-up approach, Gardner added. Instead, the goal is to reduce repeat crime, get repayment for victims and avoid additional cost to taxpayers, Gardner said. To do the project, the prosecutor's office is filling one vacant lawyer position and adjusting office workloads. "We have to play by a different set of rules in Lane County," Gardner said. "It's either allow (petty criminals) to participate in this program, or do nothing." During the three-year halt on minor prosecutions, law enforcement officials did not bother arresting and citing violators - except in the most severe circumstances - because they knew the prosecutor's office would not prosecute To follow through; to commence and continue an action or judicial proceeding to its ultimate conclusion. To proceed against a defendant by charging that person with a crime and bringing him or her to trial. the cases. Under the program, law enforcement officials will be free to resume issuing citations. But there is no guarantee the new prosecution system will continue if the county orders more budget cuts or if prosecutors are flooded with new cases, Gardner said. Officials are not sure yet just how many prosecutions they will be able to handle under the new system. The key to the new approach is minimizing the time that deputy prosecutors spend on relatively simple cases. Local court administrators and local defense lawyers are collaborating closely to modify court procedures, he said. The new arrangement provides offenders with police reports, other key evidence against them and a plea offer, all at the time of arraignment A criminal proceeding at which the defendant is officially called before a court of competent jurisdiction, informed of the offense charged in the complaint, information, indictment, or other charging document, and asked to enter a plea of guilty, not guilty, or as otherwise permitted . The offender offender n. an accused defendant in a criminal case or one convicted of a crime. (See: defendant, accused) then will have seven to 13 days to decide whether to enroll in the Western Corrections Values Improvement Program. If the offender rejects the offer, the case will be set for trial within 45 days. Offenders who accept the offer must plead plead v. 1) in civil lawsuits and petitions, the filing of any document (pleading) including complaints, petitions, declarations, motions, and memoranda of points and authorities. guilty, agree to repay victims and pay $200 to cover the cost of the private program. If they finish the program, the charge will be dismissed. If they fail, their case will go directly to sentencing. Greg Hazarabedian, director of the Public Defender public defender, governmental official who represents indigent persons accused of crime. U.S. Supreme Court decisions expanding the right to counsel to pretrial proceedings and holding that a person cannot be sentenced to even one day in jail unless a lawyer was Services of Lane County, said guarding the rights of offenders motivated mo·ti·vate tr.v. mo·ti·vat·ed, mo·ti·vat·ing, mo·ti·vates To provide with an incentive; move to action; impel. mo his office to participate in the effort. The program allows accused people to have meaningful consultation with a defense attorney, review of all the evidence and the ability to decide what course is best for their case, he said. "For many clients, the Western Corrections service will, in fact, be a very good option. But no client will be told this is what they have to do," Hazarabedian said. The Western Corrections program is not new in Lane County. It operated here from 1985 until the budget cuts of 2004. The chief difference this time is that the process requires less prosecutor prosecutor Government attorney who presents the state's case against the defendant in a criminal prosecution. In some countries (France, Japan), public prosecution is carried out by a single office. In the U.S., states and counties have their own prosecutors. time. Program participants will spend an average of 10 hours completing a workbook work·book n. 1. A booklet containing problems and exercises that a student may work directly on the pages. 2. A manual containing operating instructions, as for an appliance or machine. 3. that offers common sense guidance to help them evaluate their lives, understand how they can live better by changing their behavior and set new goals, said Jeffrey Scott, president of Utah-based Western Corrections, Inc. The local program costs taxpayers nothing. Western Corrections operates in 55 jurisdictions in 16 states, Scott said. The company's studies - including one using 3,400 Lane County inmates in 1998 - show that those who successfully complete the program are about one-third as likely to commit another crime over a four-year period when compared to a comparable offender group not in the program, he said. "It's not going to make everybody turn their lives around 180 degrees overnight," Scott said. "The concepts are common sense. They relate to it. It's sort of like turning a light on for them." Voters have continually turned down tax measures to bolster This article is about the pillow called a bolster. For other meanings of the word "bolster", see bolster (disambiguation). A bolster (etymology: Middle English, derived from Old English, and before that the Germanic word bulgstraz prosecution and jail operations, Gardner noted. "There is always next month's cuts, or next spring's cuts. We're just really pragmatic about it," Gardner said. "We've gotten the message pretty loud and clear; we have to do our best with whatever is left. We're not going to roll over. We're going to keep kicking right down to the last DA." The new misdemeanor misdemeanor, in law, a minor crime, in contrast to a felony. At common law a misdemeanor was a crime other than treason or a felony. Although it might be a grave offense, it did not affect the feudal bond or take away the offender's property. By the 19th cent. program kicks off on Monday. |
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