Richland County Reentry Court – The ultimate goal of reentry is to reintegrate Richland County ex-offenders back into the community as productive citizens. This is accomplished by offering family, housing, employment and treatment opportunities as well as providing intensive supervision and treatment accountability. Reentry requires that all offenders become employed, self-reliant, and accountable for restitution to victims.

Two Hundred Thirty (230) offenders were supervised in 2006 under the joint supervision of the Richland County Common Pleas Court and the Adult Parole Authority. One Hundred Thirty-one(131) cases were released from prison back to Richland County. Of these, 191 complied with the community reintegration program, 73 successfully graduated (32%) and only 39 (17%) failed. This stands in stark contrast to the national failure rate of prison release offenders of 47% within one year of release. This reduced failure rate involving a new crime rate of only 4%, demonstrates its effect on the reduction in felony crime in our community.

BACKGROUND: The Richland County Reentry Court was developed as a collaborative concept program between the Richland County Common Pleas Court, Richland County Court Services Department and the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, and Ohio Adult Parole Authority in September 1999. The program was subsequently selected as one of nine Reentry Court sites by the U.S. Attorney General's Office and the Departmentt of Justice in March 2000. The Reentry Court pilot program began in October 2000 and became fully operational January 1, 2001 as a regular part of the court system. Currently the Reentry Court program does receive some grant funding from the Ohio Criminal Justice Services for those reentry offenders with substance abuse issues with additional services in meeting treatment, employment and residential needs.