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DUCHESNE — Nonviolent criminals in Duchesne County can now serve time out of jail, according to a statement the Duchesne County Sheriff’s Office posted to Facebook Thursday.
The Duchesne County Sheriff’s Office is expanding its ankle monitoring program in an effort to reduce incarceration rates in Utah. Individuals convicted of nonviolent crimes may now be released from the Duchesne County Jail and monitored for the remainder of their sentence with a GPS-equipped ankle device.
The sheriff’s office has used ankle monitors since February 2016 to supervise individuals released from jail while awaiting trial. Now, the agency is monitoring eight on pretrial release and nine who have already been convicted of nonviolent crimes, according to Duchesne County Sheriff’s Lt. Jeremy Curry.
“We can go up to as many as 30 people without having to modify the system we have in place,” Curry said in a statement.
A judge must determine whether an individual is eligible for the expanded program, and it is up to the jail to assess whether that person is accepted into the program, Curry said. The jail will assess the person’s past criminal history, a review of their current charges, a history of any disciplinary problems in the jail and their support system outside.
Those accepted into the program must wear an ankle monitor at all times, undergo testing for drugs and alcohol at least three times per week, attend and complete any treatment ordered by the court and obtain or keep employment.
The jail currently has five deputies assigned as trackers to monitor compliance with the program, according to Curry.
“The ankle monitoring program is funded through the state’s Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI). Signed into law in 2015, the JRI aims to hold offenders accountable and protect communities while taking individual risks and treatment needs of offenders into consideration,” the sheriff’s office statement reads.
The initiative is expected to reduce incarceration and repeat offenses in Utah, generating savings for taxpayers and moving the criminal justice system toward a more effective model that imprisons dangers to the public but provides treatment for individuals with addiction.
