Bartholomew County officials are attempting to navigate changes to state aid for some of the county’s judicial programs after state lawmakers cut the Indiana Department of Correction’s budget through mid-2027.

The budget cut has resulted in reductions to DOC grants for Community Corrections across much of the state and the elimination of DOC funding for pretrial services, including in Bartholomew County, local officials said.

The grants, called DOC Community Corrections Justice Reinvestment Grants, seek to encourage counties to “develop a coordinated local corrections-criminal justice system” and provide “effective alternatives to imprisonment at the state level,” according to DOC.

Community Corrections provides several services and programs, including home detention, electronic monitoring, residential services, work release, among others. Pretrial services uses evidence-based practices to maximize appearance rates by defendants and public safety rates by assessing pretrial detainee risk, promptly making pretrial release determinations and monitoring and supervising pretrial detainees. The programs are largely funded through state grants and user fees.

Next year, Bartholomew County Community Corrections will receive around $1.39 million in grant funding in calendar year 2026, down from around $1.53 million in 2025 and less than the $1.75 million that county officials had requested, according to Bartholomew County Court Services.

Additionally, Bartholomew County will not receive any DOC funding for pretrial services next year. By comparison, the county received $139,500 for calendar year 2025 and had requested $139,500 for 2026.

“We did not have any advance notice … that we would have our Community Corrections (funding) reduced … or that we would have the pretrial services money under the Department of Correction totally eliminated. They eliminated that funding,” said Bartholomew County Court Services Director Brad Barnes, who also serves as chief probation officer.

“That was a pretty big blow,” Barnes added.

Barnes said his office worked with Indiana Office of Court Services to secure the funding it will need to fully fund the county’s pretrial services program in 2026. The Bartholomew County Council has also agreed to continue helping cover some insurance costs for staff, which varies each year but has generally averaged around $400,000.

Additionally, court services has eliminated two staff positions, modified a third position and held off on hiring two new probation officers over the past couple years as part of efforts to reduce expenses, which officials said will help them “absorb the hit that we’re going to have in 2026.”

Overall, officials have found alternative sources to offset the decrease in funding for Community Corrections and pretrial services next year. However, funding beyond 2026 is less certain at this point.

“The question mark becomes how do we sustain funding going forward beyond 2026?” Barnes said. “So, I’ll have to start those discussions soon.”

On Friday, county officials gave the Bartholomew County Community Corrections Advisory Board an update on next year’s funding. The board includes representatives from the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, Columbus Police Department, county judges, among others.

Barnes said the reduction in grant funding will not impact the county’s problem-solving courts.

The reduction in grant funding comes after state lawmakers cut DOC’s budget for fiscal years 2025-26 and 2026-27. Fiscal years in Indiana run from July 1 through June 30.

The deadline for county officials to submit their grant application request for calendar 2026 was around the same time state lawmakers were approving the budget cuts that would impact the amount of available grant funds.

DOC spokeswoman Annie Goeller told The Republic that the grant funding “was reduced in DOC’s budget approved in the last legislative session” and pointed to House Bill 1001.

HB 1001, which cleared both chambers of the Indiana General Assembly in late April and signed into law in May, set IDOC’s budget for Community Corrections programs at $65.6 million for fiscal years 2025-26 and 2026-27 — down $7 million from the $72.6 million allocated for fiscal year 2024-25, according to a copy of the bill and the previous budget bill passed.

The measure received unanimous support from state lawmakers representing parts of Bartholomew County. Rep. Ryan Lauer, R-Columbus; Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour; Rep. Jennifer Meltzer, R-Shelbyville; and Sen. Greg Walker, R-Columbus, all voted in favor of HB 1001, according to state records.

As state lawmakers were working on the budget earlier this year, a state forecast projected $2 billion less in revenue than initially expected over the next budget cycle.

The Bartholomew County Community Corrections Department was organized after receiving state funds from DOC in August 1986, with the county finding it “to be a very integral part of its judicial system,” according to the department’s website.

Some of the programs that have been funded by the state over the year have included community service restitution, residential programs, home detention, electronic monitoring, work release, among several others, according to Bartholomew County Court Services’ website.

Bartholomew County began efforts to provide pretrial services in 2002 due to jail overcrowding. However, the building a new county jail and limit resources cause those efforts to wane over time, according to Bartholomew County Court Services.

In 2016, Bartholomew County was selected as a state pretrial pilot site and received grant funding, with operations beginning in September of that year. The program had been receiving support from DOC and the Indiana Office of Court Services since then.

Barnes, for his part, said that securing additional funding from the Indiana Office of Court for next year will give his office some time to talk to state officials and figure out how to keep funding the programs beyond 2026.

“That gives us some time this year, first of next year, to meet with and talk to some of the state folks, legislators as well, and say, ‘Hey, here’s our need that we have for operational expenses and coverage,’” Barnes said. “We’re hopeful that the state is going to be able to continue funding programs, especially programs that they encouraged us to start to implement.”
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