NEW PHILADELPHIA (WJER) - Tuscarawas County’s Community Corrections program is utilizing state funding assistance to beef up their probation staff. 

Chief Probation Officer Steve Pompey says new state legislation stripping supervision responsibilities from the Adult Parole Authority means the county will be taking on dozens of additional cases. Pompey says that influx has enabled them to leverage money from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections to hire two new probation officers. (with up to 150-new cases expected to come back under their supervision.)

“The state recognized that we would need to hire additional officers because we’re expecting anywhere from 90 to possibly 150 cases to come back for supervision here,” he says. 

Pompey says they received a $300,000, two-year state grant to support those new positions.

“Initially, it was for $150,00 but Judge Thomakos, Judge O’Farrell put together a package and requested that would not meet our needs, and the state was generous enough to double it,” he says.

Pompey says the new officers will handle normal casework already happening within community corrections like high-to-moderate risk offender supervision and pre-sentencing investigations.

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