{"id":2362107,"date":"2024-10-31T09:28:01","date_gmt":"2024-10-31T13:28:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/homeless-sex-crime-offenders-eligible-for-thurston-county-court-alternative-program-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-10-31T09:31:06","modified_gmt":"2024-10-31T13:31:06","slug":"homeless-sex-crime-offenders-eligible-for-thurston-county-court-alternative-program-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/homeless-sex-crime-offenders-eligible-for-thurston-county-court-alternative-program-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Homeless sex-crime offenders eligible for Thurston County court alternative program &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhomeless-sex-crime-offenders-eligible-for-thurston-county-court-alternative-program-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2362107&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Thurston\u2063 County is launching\u200b a \u2064new pilot program \u200dthat offers a court alternative \u200dfor homeless individuals charged with misdemeanor offenses, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/5-deadly-potentially-criminal-acts-the-sports-media-cared-less-about-than-aaron-rodgers\/\" title=\"5 Deadly, Potentially Criminal Acts the Sports Media Cared Less About than Aaron Rodgers\">including domestic violence<\/a> and sex crimes. Modeled after San Diego&#8217;s homeless court program, it allows participants to resolve their legal\u2063 issues while addressing the root causes of their homelessness. There \u200dare no <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/joe-biden-abolishes-90-percent-of-ices-deportations\/\" title=\"Joe Biden Abolishes 90 Percent of ICE&#039;s Deportations\">strict eligibility requirements<\/a>; individuals who are homeless and have specific legal charges may qualify, provided both their public defender and \u2063the prosecuting attorney agree\u200b that they \u200bare suitable for the program. The \u2063pilot will initially accept a limited number of participants, \u200cstarting with five, and will run \u200dfor one year. Unlike similar programs, Thurston County&#8217;s initiative does not \u200dexclude domestic violence and sex-related\u2064 offenses, but these cases will only be\u200c considered if deemed appropriate by the prosecutor after \u200cdiscussing the situation with the victim.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Homeless sex-crime offenders eligible for Thurston County court alternative program<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1869159\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>(The Center Square) &ndash; Thurston County will soon launch a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">court alternative pilot program<\/a> for homeless people who commit offenses, including domestic violence and sex crimes.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Thurston County&rsquo;s court alternative pilot program is a hybrid version of San Diego&rsquo;s&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.homelesscourtprogram.org\/\">homeless court program<\/a><\/strong>, which allows homeless people to resolve misdemeanor offenses while working to address the underlying cause of their homelessness.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Currently, there are no eligibility requirements or restrictions in the county&rsquo;s pilot program. Individuals can participate in the county&rsquo;s&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thurstoncountywa.gov\/living-thurston-county\/law-and-justice\/thurston-county-court-alternative-program-tc-cap\">new pilot program<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;if they are homeless and have a misdemeanor, gross misdemeanor, simple possession charge, or outstanding warrant in district court.<\/p>\n<p>However, an individual&rsquo;s public defender and the prosecuting attorney have to agree that the person would be a good fit for the program in order for them to be accepted.<\/p>\n<p>There will be a staggered capacity of just 10 participants at a time, starting with five participants in the first month. The pilot program will last one year.<\/p>\n<p>San Diego&rsquo;s homeless court, considered to be the model in terms of such a setup, only excludes domestic violence and sex offenses. Thurston County will not exclude these offenses at the request of the prosecutor&rsquo;s office and public defenders, according to Thurston County&rsquo;s Criminal Justice Regional Program Manager Leah Landon.<\/p>\n<p>The Thurston County &ndash; Court Alternative Program Implementation Committee agreed that the Thurston County Public Defense and the Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney&rsquo;s Office should have the discretion to refer any non-felony case by agreement.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Generally speaking, sex offenses and domestic violence cases will not be considered unless the deputy prosecutor decides that such a referral is in the interests of justice after consulting with the victim,&rdquo; Landon emailed The Center Square.<\/p>\n<p>The San Diego Homeless Court Team explained to The Center Square that it excludes domestic violence and sex-related crimes because states have different legal requirements for certain kinds of cases, including domestic violence and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/faulty-assumptions-behind-new-zealands-sexual-violence-bill-professor-writes\/\" title=\"Faulty Assumptions Behind New Zealand\u2019s Sexual Violence Bill, Professor Writes\">sex-related cases<\/a>. All jurisdictions that have homeless courts also have their own parameters for referral and engagement.<\/p>\n<p>Landon emphasized that Thurston County&rsquo;s pilot program is not a diversion program, but serves as a process that refers people accused of non-felony crimes into a participating service provider&rsquo;s program that provides an assessment of needs and coordinated services.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8203;&#8203;If a service provider is not able to address a participant&rsquo;s specific issue, the county will help provide that person with another service provider.<\/p>\n<p>Homeless court gives homeless offenders credit for time served in the program. This allows them to receive services intended to address underlying causes of homelessness while reconciling legal involvement.<\/p>\n<p>According to Landon, the program&rsquo; implementation is funded through existing resources, with no additional county funds being used.<\/p>\n<p>The Thurston County &ndash; Court Alternative Program will launch on Dec. 1.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1869159\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1869159\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thurston County to start court alternative for homeless offenders<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2362109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP24014160623172-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[44077,4586,38397,44078,4086],"class_list":["post-2362107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-court-program","tag-homeless","tag-sex-offenders","tag-thurston-county","tag-washington"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP24014160623172-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2362107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2362107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2362107\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2362109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2362107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2362107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2362107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}