Custody Officers lead ‘Alternatives to Sentencing’ for low-risk offenders in Marysville

MARYSVILLE — For some defendants who find themselves sentenced to jail time, anything is better than sitting behind bars. The Marysville Police Department operates an Electronic Home Monitoring program that provides an alternative to incarceration for low risk, non-violent offenders with little or no prior criminal history, allowing offenders to live at home while serving their sentences. The program has been used to varying degrees over the past 15 years on a half-time basis, but got a huge boost in 2010 when the original EHM program founder, Russ Irvin, and fellow Custody Officer Monte Wallace were chosen to run it full-time. In January of this year, they moved to new offices housed in the Marysville Municipal Court, where a significant portion of their responsibilities also include courthouse and courtroom security, as well as bailiff duties.

March 4, 2011 5:25 pm
GPS monitoring and radio frequency bracelets allow the Marysville Police Department to operate an Electronic Home Monitoring program.
GPS monitoring and radio frequency bracelets allow the Marysville Police Department to operate an Electronic Home Monitoring program.

MARYSVILLE — For some defendants who find themselves sentenced to jail time, anything is better than sitting behind bars.

The Marysville Police Department operates an Electronic Home Monitoring program that provides an alternative to incarceration for low risk, non-violent offenders with little or no prior criminal history, allowing offenders to live at home while serving their sentences.

The program has been used to varying degrees over the past 15 years on a half-time basis, but got a huge boost in 2010 when the original EHM program founder, Russ Irvin, and fellow Custody Officer Monte Wallace were chosen to run it full-time. In January of this year, they moved to new offices housed in the Marysville Municipal Court, where a significant portion of their responsibilities also include courthouse and courtroom security, as well as bailiff duties.

“Our priority is protecting the judges, court staff and the public attending court,” Irvin said. “We also take into custody those remanded into custody by the judge.”

Bumping the EHM program to a full-time operation, and broadening its mission to a more multi-faceted “Alternatives to Sentencing” program, is one of several departmental reforms aimed at managing the city’s finances and programs more efficiently and cost-effectively.

Home detention provides benefits to taxpayers, not only by keeping offenders out of the jail system, but also by holding down jail costs by saving the city booking and daily housing fees, as well as keeping the jail less crowded. It costs the city $60 a day to keep someone in Marysville’s 57-bed jail. It costs $15 a day for EHM, paid by the offender.

For detainees, the program enables them to keep their family together, continue at their jobs or school, deal with medical issues, get court-ordered treatment or make court-ordered appearances while serving their sentences, and pay for detention out of their own pockets rather than using taxpayer dollars.

“‘Alternatives to Sentencing’ is intended as an opportunity for an offender to maintain or better their livelihood to get the everyday things done they need to do, which they couldn’t do if they were sitting in jail,” Irvin said. “Plus, it reduces the risk of repeat offenses. An example would be losing a job while in jail, which could lead to committing further crimes just to stay afloat financially.”

Home detention is not for everyone. Irvin explained that a GPS monitoring and radio frequency bracelet developed by SecureAlert is strapped onto the ankle with locking clips so it cannot be removed. The weighty, somewhat bulky device includes tracking technology and two-way voice communications so that supervising officers can react as soon as offenders exceed restrictions based on time of day, such as curfews, or locations, such as stepping or driving outside of authorized geographical areas between home and work.

The sentencing judge must determine whether an individual can pursue alternative sentencing, based on the amount of time to be served, in order for them to be eligible for home detention. An application packet must be completed to enter the program, typically within 10 days. From there, Irvin and Wallace select suitable candidates for the “Alternatives to Sentencing” program, after a careful screening process that includes background checks and a review of the client’s criminal history.

Good candidates tend to be low-risk offenders sentenced in driving offenses, thefts, disorderly conduct or other misdemeanor and gross misdemeanors. According to Irvin, most individuals are turned down because of outstanding warrants, felonies, domestic violence charges, or long histories of drug and alcohol abuse. In the case of DUIs, of which few are eligible for home detention, the EHM officers can use a separate alcohol monitoring device.

Irvin noted that most clients are short-term — a minimum of seven days, with some 90 days or longer, but 20 days is the norm.

Wallace pointed out that eligible enrollees need to reside within 45 minutes’ distance from the jail, which covers most of Snohomish County, as well as parts of Skagit and north King counties. He added that special arrangements can be made for an individual who works outside of that geographical area.

Looking ahead, other services are in development as part of the “Alternatives to Sentencing” program, including “Day Jail,” educational courses able to be completed while on detention, community service tied into home monitoring, and a department-administered work release program further into the future, according to Marysville Police Cmdr. Ralph Krusey.