BY ANDY GARDNER
North Country This Week

CANTON -- The St. Lawrence County Probation Department’s electronic home monitoring program may be in jeopardy because of statewide bail reform, according to the department’s director.

Department Director Tim LePage told the St. Lawrence County Legislature’s Operations Committee that because more defendants are being released on recognizance, fewer are being placed on monitoring pending sentencing.

The electronic home monitoring program is funded by a $196,500 grant. The actual payout is determined by hitting “milestones,” LePage said.

He said the milestones include interviewing a certain number of defendants to determine eligibility for the program, and how many of them go through a risk/needs assessment. Other milestones are number of defendants who successfully complete 30 days on home monitoring, and how many successfully make it to their actual sentencing.

If they are not able to hit their milestones, the county could be on the hook for a minimum of $20,000 quarterly, the probation director said. That $20,000 quarterly would pay for one employee’s salary, benefits, equipment, a cell phone and any necessary overtime, were they required to track down a defendant who went “out of range after hours.”

He said Ogdensburg City Court toward the end of 2019 underwent a “trial run” of processing defendants under the new cashless bail standards. LePage said the numbers didn’t look good, which prompted him to address the Operations Committee on Monday, Jan. 6.

He said of 25 defendants sent from city court to the Probation Department, nine were for offenses below their purview, leaving 16. Of the remaining 16, probation officials were only able to get voluntary interviews from five of them, LePage said.

“Either they didn’t return our calls or they had changed phones since they were arrested, or addresses or whatnot,” he said. “Out of one of our busiest courts, in two months we were only going to be able to do five interviews.”

He said their milestone is to interview 328 defendants in 2020. He said the courts could opt to release a defendant under probationary supervision with electronic home monitoring, pending the outcome of the case. However, the new cashless bail law is written to prescribe the “least restrictive” pre-trial status, which makes it more difficult to get pre-trial supervision for most offenses.

“They have to prove why they need to do that stuff first, rather than just release on their own recognizance,” LePage said. “It’s up to the judges and what they can prove.”

There are still some serious offenses, such as murder, where defendants can be remanded in lieu of bail.

For those defendants that fall under the cashless bail reform, LePage said he believes it’s in their best interest to submit to their interview process.

“The court needs the information. That’s what it is. We run a criminal history check. If we interview them we can find out … what would need to be addressed to help them through changing their life and getting through the sentencing portion of court,” he said, adding that they can relay things to the court such as a defendant’s drug or alcohol issues, homelessness, or mental health issues.