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PI 4ths, MIP 3rds, No DL 4ths, No Ins 9ths

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January 09, 2003, 14:39
JFowler
PI 4ths, MIP 3rds, No DL 4ths, No Ins 9ths
I was wondering what other jurisdictions
do with repeat habitual Class C offenders.
I've been told that some jurisdictions
don't enhance these to Class B's b/c
Municipal/JP Courts don't get fingerprints
on their judgments.

We've found that many of these people
are young kids with budding alcohol
problems, crusty old drunks, or people
who simply don't mind if they spend
a couple of days in jail.

How do others handle these cases?
January 09, 2003, 14:58
mhartman
I have a small jurisdiction, but we seem to have a lot of repeat class C offenders, both young and old. The municipal court routinely fingerprints the defendants on the priors and sends the new cases back to the law enforcement agency once they become enhanceable.
I file most cases and usually try to get the offender to take some sort of probation to hopefully address the underlying problem. Additionally, most of the offenders have never been on probation so it seems to have helped. If I keep seeing the same offender after probation the offers on jail time double each time they return, bad fact cases excepted.

After 60-180 days in jail on a P.I. they seem to get better at not getting caught. For the younger offenders, 6 months to a year of a probation officer enforcing a 10pm curfew and other restrictions has been good incentive for them not to return.
hope this helps.
Mike Hartman
Scurry County Attorney