Talladega Council cancells probation contract

The Talladega City Council voted 3-0 with one abstention during it regularly scheduled meeting Monday to terminate the probation contract with Judicial Correctional Services.

The termination is effective Oct. 1. The city’s contract requires 30 days termination notice, but additional time may be necessary to prepare the court office to accept payments that would otherwise come through JCS.

Oct. 1 marks the beginning of the next fiscal year, when the necessary changes could be budgeted.

The documents provided to the council Monday night included a letter from the Southern Poverty Law Center encouraging the council to voluntarily break the contract.

The SPLC has brought suits against other cities and towns doing business with JCS, most recently encouraging Clanton to drop its contract. Childersburg and Harpersville had previously severed their agreements and are suing JCS to win back their legal expenses.

People convicted in municipal court who cannot pay all of their fines and court costs right away are referred to JCS, which sets up payments, including a flat monthly fee to the company, as well as a one time set up fee.

The company can waive its fee in some circumstances but would normally take that fee off the top, meaning a probationer could make all his/her scheduled monthly payments without reducing the overall amount of the fines.