City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: JUNE 16, 2021
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MARK B. JINKS, CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Allocation of Contingent Reserves to Implement Proposed Pretrial and Probation Program Improvements.
BODY
ISSUE: Allocation of funding for Alexandria criminal justice system improvements.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council: Allocate the approved $160,000 in the FY 2022 operating budget from contingent reserves set aside for this purpose for the uses described in this report including the addition of an additional probation officer and a part-time Investigator/Intake Officer.
BACKGROUND: Local probation services began in Alexandria in 1997 and pretrial services in 2001, following the Comprehensive Community Corrections Act (CCCA, ?9.1-173 COV) that enabled any city, county or combination thereof to develop, establish, and maintain a local community-based probation services agency to provide the judicial system with sentencing alternatives for persons convicted of felonies that are not acts of violence, have less than a 12 month sentence, and may not require institutional custody. Throughout the Commonwealth, these offices have been, and continue to be, partially funded (70%) through an annual Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services grant with a local (30%) match.
The City placed the Alexandria Criminal Justice Services (ACJS) Pretrial and Probation Office within the Sheriff's Department when the program began and, through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), the City was the Administrator and Fiscal Agent for the program and the Alexandria Sheriff's Office had been the Implementing Agent. The MOU allowed the Implementing Agent to terminate the agreement to oversee the program if they provide a 30-day notice, per ? 9.1-179. The Sheriff's Department provided written notification of its decision to terminate on October 1, 2020, and, as ...
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