State of the County
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HURON – New criminal justice laws designed to reduce prison overcrowding and delay the need to build more cells means offenders are now more likely to be enrolled in local diversion programs than face time behind bars, Beadle County State’s Attorney Mike Moore said.
“The system in and of itself is working, it’s getting better,” he said at the annual State of the County luncheon on Thursday.
“We still have a lot of kinks to work out of it,” he said.
“What happens to individuals that are convicted is a lot different today than it was just five years ago or 10 years ago or 20 years ago,” Moore said.
Instead of sentencing people to prison, judges are ordering them to enter drug treatment programs. A dozen are on intense probation while participating in the new Beadle County drug court. Diverting individuals away from the penitentiary is saving the state a lot of money, Moore said.
“We’re trying to do the best we can with the tools they give us,” Moore said.
“It’s just a little bit different than what we did 20 years ago as it’s progressed. I’m not saying it’s good or bad, I’m just saying that’s where we’re at right now,” he said.
“Whether it’s good or bad, it probably has to have happened because we just don’t have the space in our prisons to lock all these individuals up,” he said.