Latest news with #CommunityCorrections
News.com.au
9 hours ago
- News.com.au
Salim Mehajer set to be released from jail after five years behind bars
Disgraced former politician Salim Mehajer is set to be released from prison after he was on Monday granted parole, with strict conditions including he not associate with outlaw bikies. Mehajer will be released next month after the State Parole Authority on Tuesday handed down a decision to grant him parole on a long list of conditions. In a hearing before the Authority earlier this month, the Commissioner of Corrective Services opposed his release, citing a risk of reoffending, his lack of attitudinal change and Mehajer's continued denial of some of his crimes. This is despite a Community Corrections prerelease report recommending that Mehajer be released on conditional parole when he becomes eligible for release on July 18. The parole board took into account that he had completed all possible programs in prison, determining his rehabilitation was better served in the community where he will be under the watch of a psychologist and community corrections officers. Upon his release, he will have to be of good behaviour, report to a Community Corrections officer, participate in any domestic violence programs where directed, have ongoing treatment from a private psychologist and undergo drug and alcohol testing. He is also banned from contacting his victim and entering The Central Coast. As well, he must not have any communication with Outlaw Motorcycle Gang members or associates. Mehajer is serving a seven-year and nine-month prison term for domestic violence offences against a former partner, as well as fraud for forging his lawyer's signature. The former property developer and Auburn deputy mayor has been in prison since November 2020 when he was jailed for lying to a court and has served back-to-back sentences for multiple offences. Mehajer was jailed in November 2020 after he was found guilty of two counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of making a false statement under oath. The case centred on his lies in affidavits and under cross-examination that he used to secure relaxed bail conditions. In 2023, Mehajer was again found guilty in separate trials for unrelated fraud and domestic violence matters. Mehajer was sentenced to a maximum of seven years and nine months in jail for both sets of offences. He was found guilty by a jury of multiple counts of assault, one count of intimidation and one count of suffocation relating to his abuse of an ex-partner. He was found guilty of assaulting the woman by punching her in the head during an argument in his car, squeezing her hand and crushing her phone that she was holding, suffocating her by putting his hand over her nose and mouth until she passed out as well as threatening to kill the woman's mother. The following month, he was found guilty by a jury of two counts each of making a false document and using a false document. He was found to have created false statutory declarations and affidavits by forging the signatures of his solicitor, Zali Burrows, and sister. Last year, Mehajer pleaded guilty to his role in a bizarre staged car crash in an attempt to duck a court appearance. He pleaded guilty to 22 charges, including perverting the course of justice, making a false representation resulting in a police investigation, making a false call for an ambulance and negligent driving. He admitted to staging the car accident in Sydney's west in October 2017, with the court hearing that Mehajer orchestrated the incident in a bid to delay his court appearance for an unrelated criminal matter for assaulting a taxi driver, to which he later pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to a maximum of two years for the crash offences, with a non-parole period of 16 months. Mehajer will be released in July.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Ribbon-cutting held for Lewis-Upshur Community Recovery Center
BUCKHANNON, (WBOY) — The Lewis-Upshur Community Recovery Center was introduced to the area during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday morning, where attendees were able to walk around the space and see some of the different features that the community recovery center has to offer. Some of the different services that are provided include counseling and group sessions, as well as other activities like yoga and art classes, according to 18th Judicial Circuit Community Corrections Program Director Cheyenne Troxell. She told 12 News that the reason the program chose this building instead of the Community Corrections & Day Report Center was to help reduce the stigma that comes with attempting to get help, and no drug testing is done in this building. VA hosts PACT Act Claims clinic in Clarksburg 'We're actually very blessed in Upshur County to have a lot of services,' said Troxell. 'But I think our addition of the different space and our hybrid model, […] combining traditional counseling with the holistic approaches is what works really well for the clients that we've seen.' Troxell stated that she feels this center will be a positive addition to the community because all of the services that the program will put on the monthly calendar are free to the community. Anybody is able to attend these events, and nothing additional is needed, such as insurance or a referral. According to Troxell, the 18th Judicial Circuit Community Corrections Program deals with a lot of clients and programs related to addiction. She added that almost anything can be addictive and addiction can manifest itself in many different forms (drugs, food, etc.), so they welcome anybody who's struggling with anything to stop by. The space is set up to be immersive, with murals and decorative backgrounds in many of the different rooms. There's also a sensory room in the facility, which Troxell said is for people who need different things to be able to heal. Troxell also told 12 News that she wants people who attended Wednesday's ribbon-cutting and open house to just think about how many needs there are of people that are around them in the community. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to
NZ Herald
24-04-2025
- NZ Herald
Stabbing of Department of Corrections staff member at Whanganui office prompts security review
A former probation officer at the Wilson St offices, who the Whanganui Chronicle has agreed not to name, said it was 'an incident waiting to happen'. She said she felt unsafe due to a lack of security at the office site. Unlike courts, there were no metal detectors or security guards where staff regularly met offenders. The ex-officer hoped a formal review could bring additional security measures. Morrison said they could confirm that the Whanganui Community Corrections site had CCTV, but for security reasons, could not detail all the security measures in place. 'We have robust processes in place which include extensive training for our staff on keeping safe at work, physical security features, and technological security features which enable staff to quickly activate a call for urgent assistance,' Morrison said. Morrison said Corrections took the safety and wellbeing of all staff extremely seriously. 'The reality of our environments and the people we manage means the risk of violence is something we cannot eliminate. 'However, we are committed to learning from the incident last week to identify additional steps we should take to keep our Community Corrections staff safe. 'Every single one of our staff deserves to feel safe and to go home to their loved ones each day.' Home visit safety concerns Probation officers work with people serving community-based sentences and help to rehabilitate recently released prisoners. The ex-officer said she was concerned about inadequate protection when making home visits to offenders. Morrison said community staff completed on-the-job training around how to keep themselves safe, which included strategies around de-escalation and environmental risks to consider. He said all sites had a process to account for all staff on home visits, including technological security features which enable them to quickly activate a call for urgent assistance. 'Two staff attend home visits, so there is an additional person to support the environmental assessment while the other is engaging with the person. 'If there are risks or safety concerns, the staff shouldn't conduct the home visit.' Man charged with stabbing A 25-year-old man appeared in Whanganui District Court on April 10 charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. The defendant was granted interim name suppression and remanded without plea until his next appearance. The duty lawyer said psychiatric reports were 'likely to be ordered' under the Mentally Impaired Persons Act.
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tennessee revives intensive probation program after statewide demand
Justice A.A. Birch Building in Nashville, in which a Community Corrections program has operated. (Photo: Brad Freeman, Metropolitan Nashville General Sessions Court) Three years after curtailing an intensive probation program, the Department of Correction is reviving Community Corrections as part of a last-ditch effort to keep offenders out of prison. The state is taking bids from probation programs across Tennessee to resume supervision services to thousands of people on the brink of being sentenced to prison time. Requests for proposals are to be filed by April 14. Department of Correction spokesperson Dorinda Carter declined to say whether the state is taking a new direction, only that probation services contracts were set to expire and bids were re-issued to provide 'alternatives to incarceration.' Gov. Bill Lee's administration — despite orders from lawmakers to keep Community Corrections going because of its effectiveness — practically wrote the program out of existence with a request for proposals that required different guidelines. Vendors would have to offer either day reporting centers, outpatient treatment or a residential facility, and some weren't prepared to make such a shift. Davidson County Community Corrections keeps clients alive Legislators also sent a strong message to correction officials at an August 2023 meeting that they wanted the program to be renewed, instead of shifting all offenders to the state's probation program, which is considered understaffed and less effective. Lawmakers enacted the program in 1985 as a last-ditch effort to keep people who didn't qualify for regular probation out of prison. Republican Sen. Ed Jackson of Jackson has been working for three years to renew the program to allow Madison County's Community Corrections to start serving probationers again. 'Ever since they did away with it in several counties across the state, every one of them has said we really need it back. It's been effective, it's been good for us, keeps some people out of jail, lets them stay out and work, be supervised locally instead of going to a correctional facility,' Jackson said. The program cost $13.8 million when in full swing in 2022. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Chicago Tribune
27-03-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Man faces up to 10 1/2 years for burning overdosed woman's body in Gary
A man could face up to 10 1/2 years for burning an overdosed Griffith woman's body in an abandoned Gary building in September 2022. Emmit Yarbourgh, 56, of Gary, pleaded guilty Thursday in court to arson, a Level 4 felony, and abuse of a corpse, a Level 6 felony. His sentencing is May 15. Deborah Leslie was found Sept. 23, 2022, in a torched-out house on the 5300 block of W. 8th Avenue in Gary. She was last seen alive on camera at a Hammond Motel 6. Yarbrough and his late co-defendant Heather Richardson were the last people seen with her. Judge Natalie Bokota would have to accept the plea deal. The prison term largely rests on what she decides. In total, he faces 4 1/2-10 1/2 years. The plea deal calls for 2-8 years for the arson charge. Yarbrough agreed to a 2 1/2-year prison term for the abuse of corpse charge. After lawyers make their case, Bokota will decide whether the terms are consecutive or concurrent. In exchange, prosecutors agreed not to file a habitual offender enhancement, which would have added 5-20 years. They will also drop all other lower level charges. Bokota ordered Yarbrough to have an evaluation to see if he would qualify for the Lake County Community Corrections program. After the hearing, the victim's father, David Leslie, said he had 'mixed feelings' about the plea, but wanted at least a consecutive higher-end sentence. 'I would be OK with that,' he said. Last August, the trial was rescheduled to give Lake County Coroner's Office forensic pathologist Dr. Zhou Wang time to reexamine his findings. Leslie said they were looking at his daughter's CO2 levels to see if she could have been still alive. She was a smoker, which may have explained those readings. No ash was in her system, which would have been a sign she was still breathing, he said. Richardson died Jan. 26, 2024, of a fentanyl and cocaine overdose, according to the Lake County Coroner's Office.
