By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
The 20th Judicial District includes Barton County and the Central Kansas Community Corrections. Community Corrections provides intensive supervision of adult felony offenders instead of sending them to jail.
The State of Kansas is divided into 31 judicial districts. With an average of 237 active clients, CKCC has the seventh highest caseload in Kansas. Barton County Commissioner Tricia Schlessiger said despite the high caseload, CKCC receives the 28th lowest funding out of the 31 districts.
"I brought this to the forefront after sitting in on a three-hour Zoom meeting on the funding formula for community corrections," said Schlessiger. "The differences between the judicial districts across the state became very clear in that meeting. We are clearly underfunded for the miles we cover and the clients we serve. I feel that is having a direct impact on our community."
The 20th Judicial District also includes Stafford, Russell, Ellsworth and Rice counties. The district covers over 4,000 square miles, making it the fifth highest district in Kansas in square miles. The necessary drive time chips away at time spent with clients.
CKCC Director Brooke Haulmark said getting funded $3,408 per client each year, the 20th Judicial District falls below the state average of $3,560.
"With how many clients we're serving and square miles, the timeframe it takes to do the services we need to do, we can show that we're underfunded compared to the other jurisdictions," said Haulmark. "Also, our work suffers because of that. Ultimately, that harms our community. In order for us to do better, they need to fund us appropriately."
The Kansas Department of Corrections provides grants to county departments to fund community corrections. The Barton County Commission approved submitting a letter of support to the state for increased local funding.
Haulmark said one of CKCC’s Intensive Supervision Officers (ISO) recently resigned due to being overworked. Because of this, CKCC is 288 staffing hours short every month.