Henry Co. Sentence Enforcement

HENRY COUNTY
SENTENCE ENFORCEMENT

Fiscal Year 2017
ANNUAL REPORT

530 Hampton Street/Hwy 20
McDonough, GA 30253

TABLE OF CONTENTS

MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR........................................................................................................ 2
BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................................................ 3
CASE LOAD AVERAGE DATA .......................................................................................................................... 4
REVENUE COLLECTIONS ...................................................................................................................... 5
REVENUE BY COURTS ..................................................................................................................................... 6
PROGRAM COMPLETION DATA....................................................................................................................... 7
COMMUNITY SERVICE ................................................................................................................................... 8
NOTABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS……………………………………………………………………9-11
DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY SUPERVISION OVERSIGHT………………………………….12
LOCAL OVERSIGHT……………………………………………………………………………………..12

1

A MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR
We are honored that Henry County Government entrusted the misdemeanor services of the State
Court, Superior Court, and Magistrate Court in the county to Henry County Sentence
Enforcement. As the county’s newest department, we have strived to provide a level of
professional service that meets the high standards set for all departments within the county. The
department has proudly provided a smooth transition of services while ensuring that those
served; from the offenders to the courts continue to see a positive and progressive level of
professionalism and accountability reflective of the needs of the court and the community.
Through these efforts, we have worked diligently to be a contributing partner to enhanced public
safety within the community.

Each month during this fiscal year has served as a building block for the next to establish a
strong foundation to build upon for years to come. We are excited about the work that has been
accomplished during this inaugural year and stand committed to consistently delivering a level of
quality services to the courts.
Moving forward, our goal will be to build upon this progress in a manner that better equips and
prepares our staff for the evolving demographics of the county, expands the services to our
offenders to promote successful outcomes, promotes a culture of continuous improvement and
provides the highest level of public safety to our community.
It is indeed a privilege to be able to outline the extraordinary work done throughout this fiscal
year through this annual report.

Sincerely,

V. Carl Brown
Director

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BACKGROUND
The Henry County Board of Commissioners through Board Resolution 16-69 authorized the
creation of a Probation Services Department on March 15, 2016. The Department was created to
replace a private entity that had been providing misdemeanor supervision services to the county
for well over ten years. For purposes of increased accountability, the courts felt a need to
establish this in-house department rather than continue contractual services with a private entity.
Henry County Sentence Enforcement officially began providing services on July 1, 2016 with a
staff of fourteen which included six Probation Officers, a Senior Probation Officer, Director and
six support staff positions. Based on the high volume of drug screening (an average of over 800
screens monthly), a part-time drug screener was added to the staff in September 2016.

MISSION
To serve the citizens and courts of Henry County by holding offenders accountable through the
enforcement of orders of the court, while providing opportunities for successful outcomes for all
offenders.

VISION
To become the state leader for innovative and progressive supervision by:

 Treating people with dignity and respect,
 Building partnerships within the community; and
 Utilizing an integrated approach to improve offender behavior.

3

Henry County Sentence Enforcement
Caseload Averages
Fiscal Year 2017

3000 2340 2389 2449 2500

2500 1600

2000 Caseload Average
1600
1500 2340
2389
1000 2449
2500
500

0
Mar-16
Oct-16
Dec-16
Feb-17
Jun-17

The department saw steady increases in caseload averages throughout the fiscal year. As the
planning was occurring in March 2016, the department was staffed based on the monthly
caseload average of 1600 and rose to 2500 by the end of the fiscal year.

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REVENUE COLLECTIONS

The department in its first year of operation collected a total of $2,623,336.86. As expected, the
first transitional month yielded limited financial collections, the department showed continuous
improvement throughout the remainder of the fiscal year,

Henry County Sentence Enforcement Revenue Collections
Fiscal Year 2017

100% % Revenue in Dollars
90% 0% $145.00
80% 0% $651.30
70% 3%
60% 28% $78,077.50
50% 5% $727,921.91
40% 2% $130,765.50
30% 6% $65,300.90
20% 55% $165,490.23
10% $1,454,984.52
0%

OTI
Probation OP
EM
SF
Drug Screen
Restitution
Georgia Crime Victims Fund
Fines

Fines Georgia Crime Victims Fund Restitution Drug Screen SF EM Probation OP OTI

Revenue Total $2,623,336.86

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HENRY COUNTY SENTENCE ENFORCEMENT
REVENUE BY COURT

Magistrate Pre-Trial State Superior

$141,831.05 $2,400,694.63
Superior

State
$423.00

Pre-Trial$2,132.98
Magistrate

$-

$1,000,000.00

$2,000,000.00

Magistrate Pre-Trial $3,000,000.00
$2,132.98 $423.00 State Superior

$2,400,694.63 $141,831.05

6

PROGRAM COMPLETION DATA

69% of those served by the courts successfully completed their term of probation. Successful
completion is any case that was not revoked or closed in warrant status.
Unsuccessful completions are generally related to probationers who have committed a new
offense or through technical violations in which the court deems the probationer not to be an
appropriate candidate for probation during revocation proceedings.

7

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Probationers gave back to their communities by performing over 90, 000 hours of community
service. Community Service sites must be approved by the courts and must be 501(c3)
organizations and hours must be verified by the Probation Officers

Out of the over 90,000 hours of community service performed, probationers used over 74,000
hours to convert towards their fines.

100000 Henry County Sentence Enforcement
90000 Fiscal Year 2017
80000
70000 Community Service
60000
50000 90263
40000
30000 74410
20000
10000 Total Hours Performed Hours Converted to Fines
0 90263 74410

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NOTABLE
FISCAL YEAR 2017 ACCOMPLISHMENTS

 Financial collections reconciled with the courts from the moment the department became
operational in July 2016 and have remained consistently reconciled since. Monthly
revenues have either matched or exceeded collections from the previous private provider.

 Project work with Government Windows system and Sentrak software completed and went
live August 31, 2016. This software integration allows defendants to pay on line and allows
the Clerk’s Office to see their payments in real time. Defendants have easy access to this
by simply going to www.henrypay.com . Previously, the pay process took a few steps to
access and was not synched with our case management software system.

 Worked in conjunction with the State Court to establish daily Brink’s Security pick-ups
on deposits. Prior to this while under the umbrella of private probation, staff had to
personally make daily deposit drops by traveling to the bank which was a much less safe
and secure process.

 Purchased and installed security cameras in the office as well as for outside parking areas
to increase building and staff security

 Developed a partnership with the Henry County Felony Probation Office (Department of
Community Supervision) to identify and share names of joint supervision cases to
increase offender accountability. A Joint offender list is shared with Felony Probation
Monthly.

 Improved offender accountability by adding to the monitoring equipment a portable
breathalyzer called the BART which allows defendants to be mobile for work or other
approved locations.

 Added EtG Dip Sticks (which test for alcohol consumption) to the testing inventory to
increase offender accountability.

 Developed a Strategic Plan for the department to provide a road map to the future
direction of the department.

 Developed a series of informational slideshows that is displayed on a monitor in the
lobby to allow probationers to gain valuable information while awaiting to see their
probation officer.

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 Revamped the court’s warrant to now include pictures of the offender on the warrant.
 Secured POST (Peace Officer Standards and Training) recognition for the agency

through the Georgia Peace Officers and Standards Council.
 Swore in the first certified officer (Senior Probation Officer, Kinley Wilson) on February

22, 2017. The article written on the Swearing-In was also captured and republished by the
Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

 Received departments ORI number from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

 Director Brown attended and completed the Chiefs of Police Executive Leadership
Training April 3-12, 2017. Brown is also a member of the Georgia Chiefs of Police
Association.

 Assumed the responsibility of drafting subpoenas for probation cases which was
previously handled by the investigative unit within the Solicitors Office.

 Gained access to Police Central Software so that Probation Officers were able to use the
system to verify information regarding defendant’s in jail.

 An additional feature was added in January 2017 to the on-line website that now allows
probationers to pay be phone in addition to the on-line payment option.

 Added additional sites to the Community Service List and got the approved community
service site lists for Bibb, Clayton and Dekalb to increase out of county probationer’s
opportunities to secure an appropriate community service site.

 Began the process of enhancing communication with probationers through the use of
email to include service of petitions to increase court notifications to defendants and
reduce warrants for the court.
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 To promote a more professional image, in May 2017 probation officers were converted to
uniforms and lapel pins were made available to wear in court when in court attire.

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY SUPERVISION (DCS)
MISDEMEANOR PROBATION OVERSIGHT UNIT (MPOU)

Michael W. Nail, DCS Commissioner

Barbara Neville, MPOU Director

HB 310 designated the DCS Board to provide oversight to private and governmental
misdemeanor probation entities. While the supervision responsibility of misdemeanor probation
cases does not reside with DCS, we do provide the oversight infrastructure needed to ensure the
integrity of Georgia’s misdemeanor probation system.
The DCS Board will be the sole entity responsible for promulgating rules and regulations
regarding:
 Contracts or agreements for probation services
 Conduct of business by private service providers and governments establishing probation
systems
 Registration of private and governmental service providers
 Uniform professional and contract standards in rendering misdemeanor probation supervision
 Counseling and collection services to the courts
 Inspection and investigation of private and governmental service providers
 Enforcement of registration requirements

(NOTE: Information provided above taken from the DCS-Department of Community Supervision website)

LOCAL OVERSIGHT

Henry County State Court provides local oversight to Henry County Sentence Enforcement
under the guidance and direction of the following:

Benjamin W. Studdard, Chief Judge Jason T. Harper, Judge

Ernest D. Blount, Judge James T. Chafin III, Judge

Trea Pipkin, Solicitor General

Visit our webpage on http://www.co.henry.ga.us/Departments/Courts/SentenceEnforcement.aspx
Contact us at (770) 288-6599

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