Interview with Cass County Lieutenant Chad Violet and Sheriff Jesse Jahner on The Jay Thomas Show
(BISMARCK, ND) — A bill that would restrict judges or judicial referees from waiving program fees for offenders participating in the state’s 24-7 sobriety program has been defeated in the North Dakota House.
The vote was 49-42.
The waiver can only happen in pretrial cases, not post-trial cases, according to Cass County Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant Chad Violet
Senate Bill 2365, which unanimously passed the Senate, came out of the House Judiciary Committee with a do not pass recommendation. On the Senate side, it came out of the Senate Judiciary Committee with a do pass recommendation.
Cass County Sheriff Jesse Jahner said he had support for the bill from legislators in Cass County.
Representative Pat Heinert, a former sheriff in Burleigh County, says the program has been around for more than 10 years and introduced into the legislature as a pilot project at first before being fully brought into the state.
Cass County Sheriff Jesse Jahner, appearing on WDAY Radio’s The Jay Thomas Show, says a judge in the county was waiving the 24-7 fees for some participants. He says the fees paid by the participants in the program covers its actual cost.
“It’s a statewide program that provides an alternative to jail time for those charged with, or convicted of, drunk driving or other alcohol-related offenses,” he said.
Those participating in the program are tested for sobriety twice a day year-round. Ankle bracelets and drug patches are also a part of the program.
“It’s intensive, and we try to keep them accountable for their actions,” Lieutenant Violet said. “It does work.”
Jahner says the program is ‘a good program.’
“We’ve got to have some alternative rehabilitation methods to try and get people back on the straight and narrow,” he said.
Violet says the program has a success rate of about 55 percent.
“Obviously we’d like that number to be higher,” he said. “But that’s pretty substantial for the amount of people we have on it (the program).”
Jahner estimates the cost to Cass County would be $323,590, which includes salary and benefits for the 24-7 coordinator. Those funds were calculated at the request of House Judiciary Chairman Larry Klemin of Bismarck.
“My concern is if that’s going to be the practice, and the state wants us to run this program, then we should get reimbursed by the state,” Jahner said.
