Pulaski County’s court system is seeking almost $200,000 in grant funding to continue its programs. The county commissioners recently agreed to sign letters of support for applications for 1006 grants from the Indiana Department of Correction.
Superior Court Judge Crystal Brucker Kocher explained that almost $70,000 in DOC funding is being sought for the county’s veterans treatment court. Currently, it’s being funded through the Indiana Office of Court Services. “We’ve seen good success with our veterans treatment court,” Kocher added. “We’ve seen people who are doing things, turning their lives around, getting employment, getting treatment from resource providers that we didn’t have before. And so we are hoping to continue that, but we don’t want to continue that at a cost to the county.”
Another $68,000 would go to support the pretrial release program. That would fund the salary and benefits for the pretrial officer, plus some drug screening supplies. Judge Kocher said the program currently has about 26 participants.
“The great thing about that program is that when people are released, they’re being monitored,” Kocher said. “We have had a success in that we had a 94-percent appearance rate, which means that people who are put on the pretrial release program are coming back to court at the rate of 94 percent.”
Kocher said the county is also applying for a $60,000 Justice Partners Addiction Grant, to allow it to continue to employ a licensed clinical addictions counselor and social worker. “He is available to the people who come through our system who need addiction counseling, at no cost to them and no cost to the county,” Kocher explained.
The Pulaski County court system is also applying for COVID-19 relief funding through White County United Way. Kocher said that money would be used on hand sanitizer, masks, and the installation of monitors outside the courtroom, so individuals can get scheduling updates on court hearings without having to interact with staff members.
