To: Members of the Bar
From: Chief Judge George Nunn, Judge Edward Lukemire, Judge Katherine Lumsden
Re: Probation Options Management Program

The Court has decided to participate in the Probation Options Management Program or POM.  Beginning next week all eligible sentences imposed in Houston County will be subject to the Probation Options Management Program.  Essentially when the Court enters a sentence under POM, any future non-violent misdemeanor or technical violations are handled through an administrative sanction program.  Any violation will be disposed of via waiver or administrative hearing within 15 days of arrest.  Under the program, the most restrictive sanction that could be imposed would be time in a  detention center or a residential substance abuse treatment center.

Eligible sentences would include those imposed on or after March 18, 2010 which include probation.  Current probationers would not be subject to POM unless they come back to court and are sentenced on a revocation on or after March 18, 2010.

The available sanctions are divided into two categories under the program - secure options or community options.  Secure options include the detention center, residential substance abuse treatment center, or boot camp.  Community options include day reporting center, intensive probation, electronic monitoring, community service, or probation supervision.  Secure options can only be imposed by a hearing officer.  Community options can and will be imposed by the chief probation officer.

The hearing officer or chief probation officer may return the case to the court for a traditional revocation proceeding at any time.  In addition, there is a review process by which a probationer may “appeal” the sanction back to the superior court.

As a circuit we have agreed to set the sanction ceiling at the probation detention center, thus making the complete range of options available under the program.

Over 2700 cases across the state have been handled by the department since the implementation of the program, with the average time from arrest to sanctioning being eight days. Additional information is available in Ms. Tavalero’s office.

Last Updated on Saturday, 20 March 2010 05:19