On June 18th, the Montgomery County Commission discussed reallocating $1.75 million which had previously been earmarked for the Montgomery Thrive initiative’s hospital-based violence intervention program.
The proposal under consideration would split the funds between the sheriff’s office, district attorney’s office and funding for five visiting judges to help the county prosecute the nearly 300 cases waiting to go to trial.
Commissioners Isaiah Sankey, Carmen Moore-Ziegler and Dan Harris all spoke against this proposal, saying that the county’s focus should be on programs which will help reduce crime and not only on prosecuting crimes after they happen.
“The real problem is what’s feeding this pipeline of people that are doing these things,” Harris said.
He went on to say that crime rates started to increase when funding for art, music and sports in schools as well as funding for community centers was decreased.
Chairman Doug Singleton and commissioner Ronda Walker argued in favor of funding law enforcement, with Singleton saying, “we need more law enforcement presence on our streets.”
Walker suggested giving all of the $1.75 million to the sheriff’s office and having them handle a crime prevention program.
Finally, Harris suggested giving $500,000 each to the sheriff’s office and district attorney’s office and using the other $750,000 for youth programs to help prevent crimes from occurring in the future.
Because these funds came to the county through the American Rescue Plan, anything they are spent on must meet treasury department guidelines and the funds must be allocated by the end of the year.
The commission finally decided to vote on Harris’ proposal at their next meeting.
The next meeting of the Montgomery County Commission will be held on Tuesday, July 2nd at 9:00 a.m. in the Montgomery County courthouse annex 3.
