{"id":1316279,"date":"2019-10-30T17:51:49","date_gmt":"2019-10-30T23:51:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=990307"},"modified":"2019-10-30T17:51:49","modified_gmt":"2019-10-30T23:51:49","slug":"no-end-for-garfield-countys-alternative-sentencing-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/no-end-for-garfield-countys-alternative-sentencing-program\/","title":{"rendered":"No end for Garfield County\u2019s alternative sentencing program"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Post<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Garfield County\u2019s alternative sentencing program will
\ncontinue thanks to budget rearrangements.<\/p>\n

The Workenders program, run out of the Rifle Community
\nCorrections facility, will be funded through 2020 according to the latest draft
\nof the Garfield County budget.<\/p>\n

During a budget hearing Oct. 22, county commissioner and
\nbudget chair Tom Jankovsky announced that they had worked out a way to make up
\nfor a $50,000 shortfall in the Community Corrections.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did that by moving a lot of things around, it wasn\u2019t just one item,\u201d Jankovsky said.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had defendants thank us for the opportunity to do an honest days work to help pay back for the mistakes they\u2019ve made. They leave the program with a sense of accomplishment instead of just being warehoused.\u201d
\n\u2014Rodney Hollandsworth, Rifle Community Corrections director<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

Some of that came from reducing overtime budget by $15,000
\nand reducing furniture expenditures by $10,000, according to county finance
\ndirector Theresa Wagenman.<\/p>\n

Workenders was on the chopping block<\/a> because the Community Corrections facility needed to hire a new fulltime security guard for overnight. The county didn\u2019t want to add any new positions, and wasn\u2019t interested in increasing the budget.<\/p>\n

Now, Rodney Hollandsworth will be able to hire another full
\ntime guard, and the Workenders program will survive.<\/p>\n

The county had heard complaints, mainly from the
\nfairgrounds, that there weren\u2019t enough Workender laborers to meet their needs.<\/p>\n

Judges have the option to sentence certain nonviolent
\noffenders to the Workender program for up to 90 days.<\/p>\n

Changes to Colorado\u2019s DUI sentencing laws in 2017 meant that
\nfewer offenders were eligible for the program.<\/p>\n

The governor signed a bill<\/a> in 2017 that
\nrequired felony DUI convicts to serve a minimum 90 days in jail, with no
\nalternative sentencing allowed.<\/p>\n

That led to a drop in program participation.<\/p>\n

In 2017, judges in Garfield County referred 99 offenders to the Workender program, compared to 128 in 2016.<\/p>\n

Referrals bounced back the following year, and have reached 134 so far in 2019.<\/p>\n

Changes to sentencing laws passed this year could funnel more offenders into the program.<\/p>\n

Starting in March 2020, possessing small amounts of most drugs will be a misdemeanor charge<\/a> instead of a felony, potentially allowing judges to refer more offenders to the Workenders program.<\/p>\n

More offenders in Workenders also means more revenue for the program. Offenders pay $20 each day they work, which could be difficult for offenders to afford but, as Hollandsworth says, is usually cheaper than being in jail and missing work.<\/p>\n

Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario pointed out that
\ncutting Workenders would increase costs by filling up the jail.<\/p>\n

 \u201cIt\u2019s going to add
\ncosts to us if those people don\u2019t have the option for alternative sentencing,\u201d
\nVallario told the commissioners.<\/p>\n

The jail is already understaffed for unrelated reasons,
\nVallario said.<\/p>\n

In the end, the Workenders program isn\u2019t about cost savings, but about restoring offenders to the community, Hollandsworth said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI very much appreciate that the Commissioners understand
\nwhat a valuable tool the Workender program is in the concept of \u2018restorative
\njustice,\u2019\u201d Hollandsworth said.<\/p>\n

Hollandsworth doesn\u2019t keep data on recidivism within
\nWorkenders, but estimates that around 20 percent of those who complete the
\nprogram end up back in jail.<\/p>\n

Statewide, community corrections recidivism
\nrates<\/a> were around 45 percent in 2016.<\/p>\n

According to Hollandsworth, Workenders accomplishes its
\nmission.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had defendants thank us for the opportunity to do an honest day\u2019s work to help pay back for the mistakes they\u2019ve made. They leave the program with a sense of accomplishment instead of just being warehoused,\u201d Hollandsworth said.<\/p>\n

tphippen@postindependent.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Garfield County\u2019s alternative sentencing program will continue thanks to budget rearrangements. The Workenders program, run out of the Rifle Community Corrections facility, will be funded through 2020 according to the latest draft of the Garfield County budget. During a budget hearing Oct. 22, county commissioner and budget chair Tom Jankovsky announced that they had worked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1316279","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-22 14:34:02","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1316279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1316279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1316279\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1316279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1316279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1316279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}