County considers supervised release for misdemeanor offenders

Lincoln County Public Health Manager Jennifer McCully presented to the County Commission Feb. 22 about misdemeanor probation, a requirement for the drug treatment court which several county agencies and stakeholders are working to establish.

Currently, there is no supervised probation for offenders convicted of a misdemeanor in Lincoln County. There is also no pretrial supervision, which could allow some currently jailed to be released on bail.

To underscore the latter opportunity, County Attorney Marcia Boris told the Commissioners that, after reviewing February’s jail rosters, she identified eight inmates she would consider suitable for pretrial supervision if it were available.

According to McCully, the misdemeanor supervision office would handle cases including driving under the influence, assault, misdemeanor drug possession, stalking and driving without a license.

The program would be to promote safety of the community while mitigating re-offense and reducing incarceration rates.