Problem-solving courts see dip in funding

Bartholomew County is seeing a drop in the state funding for its problem-solving courts.

Brad Barnes, head of the court services department for the county, told the county council this week that the department is seeing a loss of about a third of the state funding for pre-trial programs and about 10 percent for the problem-solving courts this year.

This comes after the state has urged communities to adopt the new system, which diverts people such as troubled veterans and those with mental health or substance abuse issues into special courts meant to help them get back on track. Barnes said that statewide, more communities are adopting the problem-solving courts, meaning less funding for the existing programs.

Councilman Matt Miller said that this appears to be a trend with the state, encouraging the creation of programs by offering funding and then slowly pulling back the money.

Barnes said the county is able to absorb some of the impact of the lowered funding because of funds leftover from previous years. And many people in his office are pulling double duty, providing services for the problem solving courts in addition to their regular responsibilities.