The Knox County State’s Attorney’s Office is rolling out a new program to remove appropriate people early from the criminal justice system to avoid later negative outcomes associated with the process.
The Diversion program will allow first-time offenders a chance to avoid criminal charges if they complete conditions determined based on the case. All participants will be placed in a probationary period, be required to make a small donation back to the community, perform community service, and pay a participation fee on a sliding scale.
The Deferred Prosecution program would steer those in the community living with addiction or a mental illness to treatment instead of the judicial system. Instead of conviction and incarceration, those individuals could seek mental health or addiction help, obtain a GED, or job training.
Karlin says that the program will not be easy for participants and that these programs will act as essential components to a more restorative justice approach to prosecution.
The program was scrutinized by some elected officials at Wednesday night’s Knox County Board meeting. The board was considering the approval of a line item as part of the county’s budget for where fees associated with the program would be deposited. The board has no say in the office’s program only in the creation of the line item. This, however, did not stop board members from speaking out against the program.
Board member Cheryl Nache said it put money ahead of people while Pamela Davidson said the county cannot sacrifice justice for the sake of funds. Galesburg Police Detective and District Four Board Member Todd Olinger stood against the program, saying that the diversion program for criminals is, “called prison, jail, and fines.”
Board member David Amor was in support of the program, saying that those who didn’t want to go through the program could still go through the court system. He said that the program put people first.
Karlin, who campaigned on these programs, addressed the county board and the concerns.
“It’s intended not to be used for violent offenders. Obviously, we’re talking about first-offenders, generally speaking. And, with regard to the financial component, first of all, if someone went through the court system, they would pay greater fines and court costs than participating in our program.”
He said that participation in the program is not dependent on the defendant’s ability to pay.
Karlin said that the creation of the line item was to be transparent with the fees collected and handed over to the Treasurer’s office.
Board Chairman Jarred Hawkinson reiterated that the board was only voting on the creation of the line item.
“The State’s Attorney would prefer to have separate line items in his budget, that it could be easily identified. Whether it is revenue, whatever it might be, that the auditors have recommended. We’re not approving his program. This is just to ensure the line item is there to provide transparency for the program that 27 other office [in the state], whether each individual agrees as a citizen or whatnot, this is a program the State’s Attorney will move forward with. This is just for the line item creation — to create additional transparency that we harp on every single day so that it can be tracked easily.”
The board voted in favor of the line item creation with members Davidson, Nache, and Olinger voting against it.
