Did you know the State of Ohio actually pays some counties not to sentence some felons to prison?
According to Scioto County Common Pleas Court Judge Howard Harcha, “Our legal system has changed over the years where it’s frowned upon to send low-level non-violent felons to prison.”
The judge says some counties in Ohio are part of a grant program that rewards county courts for not sentencing those offenders to prison.
TCAP – which stands for Targeted Community Alternatives to Prison, rewards counties with money for substance abuse treatment, GED programs, and other services for convicted felons.
However, many counties, including Scioto, decided against accepting the money. According to Harcha, “That sort of ties the hands of the judges. A lot of times an addict is not ready to change, won’t change, so what do you do with them? Judge Kuhn and myself agreed several years ago that we didn’t want to be part of that.”
However, he says that the state will penalize the amount of grant money the probation department is awarded if the courts send too many low-level felons to prison. “My philosophy is that you need to give a judge as much discretion as is needed to protect society and change the defendant.”
