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APPROVED MARCH 19. 1996 <br />MINUTES <br />ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />REGULAR MEETING <br />FEBRUARY 20, 1996 <br />The Orange County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, February <br />20, 1996 at 7:30 p.m. in the OWASA Community Meeting Room in Carrboro, North Carolina. <br />COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Moses Carey, Jr., and Commissioners <br />William L. Crowther, Alice M. Gordon, Stephen H. Halkiotis and Don Willhoit. <br />COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill <br />COUNTY STAFF PRESENT; County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Assistant County <br />Managers Albert Kittrell and Rod Visser and Clerk to the Board Beverly A. Blythe (all other staff will <br />be recognized accordingly) <br />1. ADDITIONS OR CHANGES TO THE AGENDA - NONE <br />II. AUDIENCE COMMENTS <br />A. MATTERS ON THE PRINTED AGENDA <br />Chair Carey said that citizens who have indicated a desire to speak to an item on the <br />printed agenda will be recognized accordingly. <br />B. MATTERS NOT ON THE PRINTED AGENDA <br />Roscoe Reeve spoke on behalf of a Chapel Hill Law Enforcement support group <br />which is the oversight committee of a program called Project Turn Around. He petitioned the Board <br />to receive information on Project Turn Around and to consider helping to fund this program in the <br />upcoming 1996-97 and future budgets of Orange County. He distributed information to the County <br />Commissioners. He explained that Project Turn Around is a court diversionary program for first <br />time non-violent felony drug offenders. The 2-year State grant helped Chapel Hill to establish this <br />program in 1993. This grant required citizen oversight and evaluation. Since September, 1996, <br />Chapel Hill has fully funded this program. The purpose of the program is to identify the drug <br />offender at his/her first felony charge and turn that person away from drugs and drug dependency <br />toward being a positive member of this community. This is accomplished by providing individuals <br />who agree to participate in the program with twelve months of intensive supervision. They must be <br />employed or in school, must support themselves, must participate in drug counseling and must have <br />no further criminal charges and be drug free. If the participant successfully finishes the program, the <br />court charges are dismissed. The program has been rated successful so far by law enforcement, <br />the district court judges and the offices of the District Attorney and Public Defender and they join in <br />this request . The program serves individuals who reside in Chapel Hill, the rest of Orange County <br />and outside of the County. Approximately 40% of the participants have been Orange County <br />residents outside of the towns. Between November, 1993 and November, 1995, Project Turn <br />Around evaluated 202 charged drug offenders. One hundred sixty-four have participated in the <br />program and 68 have successfully completed the program and 29 were unsuccessfully terminated <br />from the program. Only two graduates of the program have been rearrested for drug related crimes. <br />This is the only diversion program in this area for substance abusing criminals. The annual budget <br />is about $72,000 with most of the funds committed to personnel costs. The participants contribute <br />financially to this budget through the payment of fees. The average cost per participant is $4,920 <br />compared to $18,000 it cost to keep a person in prison for one year. Mr. Reeve asked about the <br />possibility of reprogramming a portion of the Criminal Justice Partnership funds to early intervention <br />programs to support this program. They will seek a broader base of support from other jurisdictions