During a 2027 budget planning meeting with Presiding Circuit Judge Laura Johnson, Christian County Commissioners pitched programs and ideas from criminal justice. Those including ideas for helping inmates get back on track from Presiding Commissioner Lynn Morris.
Commissioner Morris said, “most of the inmates that end up in the jail have a drug or alcohol problem,” he explained the county has “no program” to help them after they’re released.
Morris said he hoped to learn what other counties are doing to help guide people leaving their jails towards solutions to substance abuse.
It points towards a real issue facing perpetrators of everyday crime; federal reports say nearly two-thirds of people incarcerated in local jails have a substance use problem.
Christian County's 2027 budget planning comes after tough budget decisions in the last year. Among other things, in March, the county closed its recycling center citing needs to rein in spending.