Graham Jaehnig/Daily Mining Gazette County justice system officials are optimistic the County Board will join the Marquette Regional Community Corrections program. Provided services would allow for better jail population management, increase the courts’ ability to help those in need, while enhancing public safety.

HOUGHTON – Brittany Bulleit, 12th Circuit Court judge, was among several officials of the tri-county court system who attended the Houghton County Board of Commissioners work session on Monday.

Bulleit, along with 97th District Court Judge Nicholas Daavettila, and Treatment Court Case Manager Andrea Johnson, had requested Marquette Regional Community Corrections Director Trevor Kadlec address the Board on the importance of Houghton, Baraga and Keweenaw counties joining Marquette Regional Community Corrections.

Bulleit commented on Kadlec’s discussion with the Board, saying she is very supportive of the program, adding it is very important. Currently, she does not have access to many services the program offers, she said.

“With anything that I am doing in terms of pretrial release I have to be very creative,” she said. “It might cost the defendant money, and if they don’t have the money, then I can’t do it, and I’m constantly looking for options, or not being able to do things that would protect the community or keep people in jail if they don’t have to be, if I had access to a tether that they wouldn’t have to pay $10 a day for.”

One aspect of what MRCC offers, Kadlec mentioned, was TRICAP, a Probation Residential Center (PRC) offering an alternative placement option to jail or prison for non-violent male or female individuals in Michigan. The facility offers an Opiate-Methamphetamine Specific Program, a 150-day treatment facility that includes 16 groups per week for 21 weeks. Each treatment plan is person-centered, tailored to each offender’s learning level, motivation level and some are gender specific. The facility also offers a domestic violence program.

Bulleit said she is excited at the prospect of this program. “Having a methamphetamine-specific program is not something we’ve ever had access to,” she said. The domestic violence inpatient program, she added, is not something she knew existed when she was a prosecutor.

“Their program is incredibly important,” she said. “I know Judge Daavettila is very supportive as well.”

Johnson, who has been instrumental in initiating the county becoming part of the regional community corrections program, shares Bulleit’s excitement. “I am a huge advocate for alternatives to incarceration,” she said, “and with (MRCC’s) pretrial services, especially, is a good way for local jails to manage their population, and connect people in the court process earlier with services that could help them, and avoid future criminal justice contacts.”

Johnson said her background is in pre-trial services, having worked in the Milwaukee criminal justice system for five years in pre-trial services. Her experiences, she said, include deferred prosecution agreements that help people get into addiction treatment or mental health services instead of jail sentences.

Johnson said access to TRICAP and its services would be an enormous benefit to the community.

“I see people who have been referred to the treatment court program who are in need of much more intensive treatment at the beginning than I’m able to monitor, or to connect them with local services,” she said. “Being able to send them to a residential program without it costing them anything, we would eliminate that financial barrier for them. That would be hugely beneficial to the people we’re trying to serve in the treatment court program.”

Johnson said she sees people in all phases of readiness to change. These include those coming into the treatment court program just starting to think about making changes regarding sobriety and starting on a new path.

“My job is to really set them up for success, help that them see that it’s possible, and make sure they have all the support they need to be successful,” she said.

Then there are others, she said, they have decided since the day of their arrest that they are ready for change, are ready to move forward, enter a program, obtain sobriety and put that part of their lives behind them.

“Those individuals are ready to change,” said Johnson. “They’re taking all the steps right from the beginning that they need to.”

For many, it is a new process, something they haven’t explored before, she said. Telling them to go to recovery meetings can be overwhelming for them at first.

Services offered by MRCC, such as pre-trial supervision, is also valuable, said Johnson. Currently, there are people released on bond that are under court-ordered conditions, but there is no one supervising or monitoring them to ensure they are complying with those conditions.

“Being able to have that level of supervision to make sure people are following through on the conditions the court is expecting of them,” Johnson said, “like reminding them to show up at court on time, saves the court time by having fewer ‘failure to appear’ charges.”

Johnson said over all, there are a lot of benefits, like resource management and public safety, to the programs Kadlec is offering. Being part of the MRCC would benefit the people in pre-trial, as it would give the courts more tools to work with, while benefiting public safety.

It’s a win-win all around,” she said.