Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley recently unveiled sweeping reforms for Lehigh County’s Adult Probation department, including calling on the county to explore eliminating many of the onerous fines and fees, as well as focusing on diversion for minor and low-level offenses.

“Lehigh County lags behind innovations made in our Pennsylvania counties, including efforts to reduce overutilization of our local court system and divert misdemeanor offenses. There is a tremendous opportunity here to promote public safety while also cutting county costs and ensuring successful rehabilitation,” Pinsley said.

For example, the report determined that among those under supervision in 2020, 57 percent were for alcohol or drug-related offenses.

In 2020, 80 percent of all those under supervision were there for a misdemeanor.

The supervised population also has disproportionate shares of African-Americans under supervision.

In 2019, African-Americans made up 19 percent of the total supervised population, while they were just 9 percent of the county’s total population, according to census data.

There were approximately 882 African-Americans under Lehigh County’s supervision; if the population tracked with 2020 Census data, the actual population would have been 470.

“Our research indicates a potentially strong racial bias within Lehigh County’s judicial system which is consistent with national figures that show African-Americans and Hispanics are strongly overrepresented within our prison systems,” Pinsley said.

Among Pinsley’s chief suggestions to reduce costs and improve rehabilitative outcomes were:

• Eliminate detainers for all parole technical violations. Detainers often result in technical parole violators being temporarily detained while awaiting judgment. Technical violations are non-public safety related, and detainers are disruptive.

• Reduce the total time that people spend on probation. Longer probation durations increase the risk of technical violations and are costly for those under supervision.

• Reduce costs from fees and fines. Lehigh County currently funds Adult Probation from $1.7 million in fines and fees. These costs are borne by those under supervision, which can result in financial hardship and complicates pathways to rehabilitation and recovery. Lehigh County should develop a plan to gradually reduce reliance on fines and fees.

• Invest in diversion and pre-carceral solutions. Bucks County has used local district magistrates to reduce the number within the criminal justice system and diverted people to drug treatment.

“County government exists to provide core solutions services and operate our crucial courts and corrections systems. Lehigh County could do much more to ensure that we successfully rehabilitate offenders through evidence based practices. This is dollars and sense as much as it is a moral imperative,” Pinsley said.

In 2022, the county received $1,467,571 in grants and reimbursements and collected $1,784,851 in fines and costs.

The total expenditure was $5,174,672 in 2022 for Adult Probation.

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