The program has allowed the release of 47 inmates from the Hillsdale County jail. Courtesy | Collegian Archives
Hillsdale County has released 47 inmates so far this year as part of its Community Corrections Program, according to Community Corrections Manager Mark Katz.
“The goal through community corrections is to not have people sitting in jail that don’t need to be in jail, and to try to reduce the overall prison commitment rate,” Katz said. “It’s trying to help people identify those needs and get involved with whatever programs are going to help them become successful.”
The program aims to reduce the number of inmates in the county jail and the number that go to prison, according to Katz. The program’s funding from the Michigan Department of Corrections runs out Oct. 1, so the county is applying for another grant to carry it until October 2025.
Capt. Jason Stiverson of the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Office, who oversees the jail, said the number of arrests in the county has outgrown the size of its jail, causing overcrowding in the last two or three years. The jail can hold a total of 80 inmates, according to the sheriff’s office.
Stiverson said deputies have had to turn away suspects because there was not enough room.
“We will always take the majority of your felony arrests, drunk drivers, domestic violence, and assaultive crimes,” Stiverson said. “But unfortunately if we’re overcrowded, sometimes we won’t take people that have larceny charges.”
The program, based in the 1st Judicial Circuit Court, launched Jan. 15, according to Katz. He began assessing suspects for pretrial release Feb. 1.
“Community corrections is about pleading risk assessments and making recommendations to the judge as far as bond at arraignment,” Katz said. “Once people come out of jail under whatever capacity – under some kind of bond condition – community corrections works with them to help identify the needs in their life and try to help them get on pace.”
If the program continues assessments at its current rate, it will assess 270 suspects by the time its funding expires in October, Katz said. He had assessed 61 suspects as of March 26, 47 of whom were released from jail and 35 of whom ended up under supervision. He said only one suspect in the program had not shown up to court.
Katz said he personally supervises cases with location tracking, alcohol monitoring, or drug testing, and alerts law enforcement to any issues. He hopes to expand the program by including the cost of more supervision technology in the new funding.
Circuit Court Judge Sara Lisznyai wrote the program’s first grant to help supervise suspects, according to Katz.
“Judge Lisznyai wrote this initial grant because once people are bound over to circuit court, there’s really no entity that provides supervision until after their sentencing,” Katz said.
Stiverson said when there is not enough room to house inmates, suspects are still cited or assigned court dates. But the sheriff’s office has had to work with judges to reduce sentences, lower bonds, and transfer inmates to other programs like drug recovery houses.
“The community corrections program is a vital program that we’ve needed for quite a while,” Stiverson said. “I’m glad it’s up and going, and we have someone available to monitor people while they’re out waiting for their court process.”
The overall number of inmates has not yet fallen, according to Stiverson, but the number of people needing space in the jail would be higher without this program.
“This has helped alleviate some of our issues, but unfortunately we’re still overcrowded,” Stiverson said.
Many inmates in the jail have been there awaiting trial since before the program launched, according to Katz.
“We’re just now actually starting to catch some of those people as they enter into the circuit court process,” Katz said. “Probably four, maybe six months from now, we’ll have a true indicator.”
Chief Assistant Prosecutor Jamie Wisniewski called overcrowding at the jail a “long-standing concern.”
“A lot of what it’s doing right now on the front end is relieving some of the overcrowding in the jail system for people who could be safely supervised,” Wisniewski said. “Prioritizing sort of the ‘lesser evil,’ if you will – who has to stay and who has to go – that’s a terrible place to be in. Because no one has a crystal ball.”
When four men from Battle Creek robbed a marijuana shop in Camden, they were released under this program, Wisniewski said. According to the sheriff’s office, the Michigan State Police arrested them Jan. 31.
Eighteen-year-old Jeremiah Javon Smith, 18-year-old Milton Tyler Hudson, 19-year-old Dontay Dequan Banks, and 23-year-old Treshaun Omeirr Boykins each faced four charges, according to the sheriff’s office. The charges included breaking and entering, possession of burglar tools, larceny from a vehicle, unlawful driving away in an automobile, and fleeing and eluding.
The suspects were released for reasons including their young age and that they did not have a “substantial criminal history,” according to Wisniewski. Online records show they are currently in the court process.
“In those circumstances, the individuals we’re dealing with are quite young, they don’t have substantial criminal history,” Wisniewski said. “It’s not like they had a long, lengthy record to refer back to, so that is one of the factors.”
Officials use a manual called Praxis to evaluate suspects for the program, Wisniewski said. The manual assigns points to different criminal history factors to decide if suspects are a “low,” “average,” or “high” risk.
Katz declined to comment on this situation, citing MDOC policy. But he said in cases like robberies, the Praxis scale could recommend anything from a personal recognizance bond to release with a geographic tether and a $40,000 to $50,000 fine.
The program aims to set suspects on a good path after they have been arrested, making it difficult for a judge to convict them, according to Katz.
“Our job is to help them paint a different picture of who they are, what they’re about. If we can do that, we’re going to make judges’ decisions very difficult, and that’s our goal,” Katz said. “If somebody comes through on a crime and really turns things around and is making good choices and doing really well, it makes it hard on judges.”
Wisniewski said she thinks the program’s risk assessment is helpful, but not perfect.
“It’s just one factor of many to be considered by the court,” Wisniewski said. “With any tool, there are limitations. It’s important that we’re looking beyond the tool sometimes. So it is helpful, but it is not a replacement for some of the other considerations.”
