Brown County Commissioners Court approved the closing of DWI Court and also approved that the remaining funds for DWI Court be moved to the county’s general fund at their meeting on Monday morning July 15th.
The DWI Court has been in place for four years in Brown County and was funded through a grant. The reimbursement grant is no longer available due to changed qualifications in population requirements which the county no longer meets.
“The state changed its focus, and to get the grants we had to meet certain qualifications. Unless you were a larger jurisdiction you did not qualify and, we were one of the smallest,” said Judge Frank Griffin.
Along with the closing, Judge Griffin moved to approve the transferring of funds of $45,655 from the DWI Court fund to the county’s general fund.
“Really, I wish there were the funds there to continue the operation, but I knew that we would have ended up running out of money with people half way through the program,” said Judge Griffin.
The DWI court focused on repeat offenders and offered programs to help with alcohol dependency issues.
“The vast majority of the expense was for counseling. The focus was for the people who were generally repeat offenders,” Judge Griffin said. “It includes an intensive supervision program, with a lot of counseling to try to get them off that track before they became felony offenders.”
In other matters on Monday’s agenda:
*In light of the recent rains the burn ban has been lifted.
*Shane Britton and Dr. David Smith were approved to the Board of Trustees for the Center for Life Resources.
*The purchase of new fire extinguishers for the Ray West Juvenile Justice Center and Brown County Courthouse was approved.
*A press conference for ‘Faces of Drunk Driving’ was approved to be held on July 16th at 10 AM on the North side of the courthouse.
