By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Barton County Commission meetings have become a forum for local officials to promote their departments and vent frustrations. Last week, Sheriff Brian Bellendir expressed concern about failed drug-test policies at Central Kansas Community Corrections. Following an executive session during Wednesday's meeting, Community Corrections Director Amy Boxberger addressed those concerns.
"The sheriff has publicly stated that it is the policy of Central Kansas Community Corrections to allow probationers to have positive drug tests with no consequences," she said. "I can assure you, in Barton County alone, I have a caseload of approximately 210 people on supervision and approximately 40 people in custody in the Barton County Jail who would disagree with him."
At the heart of Bellendir's concern is the number of failed drug tests allowed before a person on corrections is reported as in violation. Boxberger said there is accountability but no magic number on failed tests.
"That does not mean that the number is infinite," she said. "Responses should be swift. Best practices are no one-size fits all. There are responses to violations, including drug use on supervision, and the policies support that. Community Corrections is following years of research for evidence-based practices for community supervision to effectuate cost-effective, long-term change to create a safer community as the Kansas Department of Corrections recommends."
Bellendir cited three recent cases, including a police pursuit out of Hoisington on April 1, when 38-year-old William Thomas Frederick, Jr., allegedly fired several shots at a Hoisington police officer. Frederick had absconded from Community Corrections.
"The question with that is, how many bad UAs did this guy have before they violated him?" Bellendir asked after Wednesday's meeting. "Should he have even been on the street? If they would have violated him six months before, would we have had the incident we did? I would speculate he had multiple bad UAs and violations prior to him absconding. Therein lies the crux. Yes, it's my problem at that point, but how many chances was he given? Should he have been violated six months before, before he completely spun off the rails?"
Boxberger provided numbers for the first quarter of 2023 as evidence that violators are being sanctioned. In that time, CKCC issued two arrest-and-detain orders, 17 quick dips, 2-3 day jail sanctions, 59 sanctioned responses to violations, and 67 violation reports filed with Barton County District Court.
"That's a total of 145 sanctioned violation responses that were filed with Barton County District Court in the quarter that we just ended in March," she said. "So we are responding to violations. There are consequences. And when violations cannot be resolved with administrative sanctions, our officers file a case report, an affidavit, and ask the judge to sign a warrant. Once that document is signed, it is distributed to the sheriff's office, and law enforcement becomes responsible for apprehending and bringing the offender before the court. These people are no longer supervised by our agency."
Bellendir said that still does not get to the heart of the matter. Failed drug tests mean the local drug economy still has suppliers and buyers.
"Somebody that has 10 bad UAs, where are they getting the dope?" he said. "They're not getting it at Walmart. They're supporting the local dope dealers, and they're out here committing crimes to support their habit. She will not give you a number on it. She did not give a number on it (Wednesday) morning."
In the commission meeting, Boxberger reiterated that the Kansas Department of Corrections and Community Corrections use evidence-based strategies to address addiction. She said absconders are high-risk offenders, and all sides want drug use to stop. They are just using different tools.
"I understand the concern for drug use in the community," she said. "There are several opportunities for the sheriff and concerned citizens of our community to get involved. One way to show a growth mindset is to encourage those with substance use disorder, to refrain from using derogatory language, or creating more stigma with the public while providing accountability necessary to illicit positive self-change. Recovery is happening. Accountability is happening."
In its effort to address concerns on both sides, the Barton County Commission appointed two more members to the CKCC Advisory Board, bringing the total number to 14 members. Meetings were changed from quarterly to monthly. Advisory Board Chair Hannalore Kitts, a former judge, explained the role of that board.
"The Advisory Board is directed and authorized to formulate an approved comprehensive plan for the operation of community corrections," Kitts said. "We're not responsible to supervise the offenders that are on community corrections, just simply making sure the plan that community corrections is following, that it complies with the state requirements. The Department of Corrections has mandated the advisory boards to do that before the plan is sent to them."
Kitts emphasized that judges are the ones who determine whether or not an individual will go on community corrections. She said the program was created in the late 1980s when the state legislature determined there should be a step up from regular probation because that was not keeping offenders out of jail. The program was a result of cuts to education and treatment programs, and the state did not have enough money to house all the offenders.
Boxberger closed her portion of Wednesday's meeting by thanking her staff. "This has been a difficult time on an already difficult job," she said. "We flinch every time the sirens go off, and they keep coming to work every day."