Probation client numbers increase in York County

YORK COUNTY – The number of probation clients continues to increase in York County; District 5 probation asks for a lower figure for county financial involvement but also asks for more office space.

Carrie Rodriguez, District 5 Probation chief, met with the York County Commissioners this week, to present the year-end statistics and make the annual budget request.
District 5 Probation serves York, Boone, Butler, Colfax, Hamilton, Merrick, Nance, Platte, Polk, Saunders and Seward Counties. Sixty-two staff members serve District 5. Of those, 27 directly serve York County.
The number of people on probation in York County continues to rise.
For adult probation, the following figures were provided regarding how many people were being supervised: 2017, 243; 2018, 257; 2019, 323; 2020, 294; 2021, 461; 2022, 511; and 2023, 554.
For juvenile probation, the following figures were provided regarding how many people were being supervised: 2017, 47; 2018, 42; 2019, 38; 2020, 24; 2021, 45; 2022, 55; 2023, 53.
The majority of probation clients are male: for adults, it is 73%. For juveniles, it’s 65%.
As far as race, 85% of those in York County who are on probation are classified as being white.
There are very many services provided by probation, including a multitude of classes, as well as outpatient and residential treatment services, GPS monitoring, continuous alcohol monitoring, transitional housing and cognitive behavioral groups. For these services, the state spent $109,013 in York County alone.
One aspect of probation services is the problem-solving court, also known as drug court. Rodriguez explained how York County District Court Judge James Stecker has one here in York County which is in conjunction with Seward County.
“If this wasn’t available to high-risk individuals, they would be sent to prison,” Rodriguez said. “It helps them become productive members of society. Last year, there were 31 people enrolled in problem solving court in York County. It’s a very difficult program which lasts a minimum of 18 months and the graduation rate since 2015 is 65% which is actually pretty good when you look at national levels.”
Probation also has a designated person on call 24/7 to respond to law enforcement when they request a juvenile intake – meaning when a law enforcement doesn’t feel it is safe for the community if the juvenile returns home. They are also called for juvenile intake when a juvenile has an outstanding warrant or is a runaway from another state, Rodriguez said. York County’s number of juvenile intakes in 2023 was nine, Rodriguez said.
She also explained how all probation clients have to call in, daily, to see if they are required to report for random drug/alcohol testing. She said 3,371 drug/alcohol tests were collected in York County in 2023.
Rodriguez said the financial aspects of probation show probation is cheaper than jail/prison time. For juvenile probation, per day, it costs $12.56 a day for in-home services compared to $77.10 a day out-of-home services. Adult probation costs $15.07 a day, compared to an average cost of $115.07 a day per person in prison and $54.40 a day in a county jail.
She also explained how the state has spent $856,532.71 in York County alone, to provide services.
She said the financial request being made to York County – not including the in-kind office space requirement – is $34,244.30 based on population and the number of probation cases.
“Statutorily, the county has to continue to provide office space here,” Rodriguez said. “Your financial contribution went down because of the number being served in Platte County as well.”
Commissioner Jack Sikes asked if other counties also provide office space – Rodriguez said yes, that is the case.
There have been discussions about creating an adult diversion program in York County. “You have other counties with this service,” said Commissioner Chairman Randy Obermier. “Did you see that when that started it helped with the numbers on probation?”
“Absolutely,” Rodriguez said.
“Can you put numbers to that, to say that adult diversion costs less than adult probation, like adult probation costs less than jail?” Obermier asked.
She said she’s seen this happen in other counties and she will be providing further information.
“This would be valuable as we consider that as another piece to look at an adult diversion program,” Obermier said.
Rodriguez said more office space will be needed in the future, in York County, to accommodate more staff members as the probation numbers continue to increase here. Right now, the county provides office space in the area of the fairgrounds, as they long ago outgrew space in the courthouse and in a downtown building the county rented for a time.
Rodriguez said she appreciated the opportunity to make her annual report and all will be considered by the county commissioners as they move forward with the budget process.