PROBATIONERS GIVE BACK TO COMMUNITY THROUGH AGENCY

There are 24 hours in a day, 168 hours in a week and 8,760 hours in a year.

Now consider that about 1,600 people have performed more than 72,000 hours of community service for non-profit agencies in the area since July 1991, when Community Service Management Inc., opened its doors to misdemeanor offenders.

"We try and place people according to their skills," said Joseph Sampson, administrator of Community Service Management Inc. "We can place people in just about any non-profit organization around."

People sentenced to perform community service are doing just that for cities like Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Scott City, Chaffee and Perryville.

After the floodwaters receded last summer, one person sentenced by the courts to community service cleaned the murals on the river side of the flood wall.

Those with specialized building skills are utilized by organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, in constructing and remodeling homes for needy families. Others work at the Trail of Tears National Park running pole wire or cleaning the grounds.

Some are even sent to area landfills to pick up garbage that has been blown about the site.

"The EPA has said that the Jackson landfill is one of the cleanest landfills they have ever seen," said Sampson.

He also said that it is not unusual for probationers to be hired by the agencies for which they are working after their community service hours have been completed.

One woman, sentenced by the courts to perform 1,000 hours of community service for the assault of a police officer and driving while intoxicated, ended up working in Marble Hill in a placement office.

"By the time she was finished with her sentence, she had two people working under her," said Sampson.

"But our biggest users by far are Southeast Missouri State University, the Missouri Veterans Home and the Humane Society," said Sampson. "The university has provided us a place where people can work on the weekends, so they don't have to take time out of their regular jobs."

Tom Lee, an employee of the university who supervises the misdemeanor offenders who work for the physical plant, said he has had "real good luck" with people completing their sentences at the facility.

"We have six different times during the day when they can start work," said Lee. "We have all kinds of things they can do out on the grounds and in the university buildings."

Lee said offenders who work evening shifts at the university generally do janitorial work. Those who work during the day and on weekends will empty trash cans, pick up litter, help with planting, fertilizing and trimming of bushes, flowers and trees and just about anything else full time employees do.

"We have them work with full-time employees at all times," said Lee. "We have plenty of work here to go around. A program like this is very beneficial to a university."

Prior to the existence of Community Service Management, people convicted of misdemeanor offenses were either fined or sentenced to a few days in the county jail.

"That kind of sentence just doesn't leave much of an effect on people," said Sampson. "But giving up their free time to perform volunteer service for others appears to leave some sort of impression with most people.

"These people have to give up their free time to pay for what they have done," he said.

Sampson said of the approximately 1,600 people who have been sentenced to work through his agency, only about 50 have returned as repeat offenders.

The community service agency acts as a go-between for the non-profit agencies and the court.

"The agencies that people go to volunteer are in charge of keeping track of their hours," said Sampson. "If the probationer doesn't do the time, or doesn't do his or her job properly, then they send the sheet back to the judge.

"At that point, a person can be sentenced to jail time or be fined," he said.

Probationers must be sentenced to a minimum of 15 hours to be considered as a client of the agency.

A client assigned by the court to the community service agency must pay for its services. Most probationers pay $30 a month for the duration of their supervision. Those performing strictly community service are required to pay a one time $50 fee.

"This agency is supported solely on the fees paid to us by our clients," said Sampson. "So as long as people continue to break the law, we'll stay in business."

The agency now is supervising 200 people on probation and has more than 100 performing community service at any given time.

"We're getting a lot of positive feedback from the courts, from the agencies we work with and from our clients," said Sampson. "A lot of our clients will tell us that the community service has made them realize they made a mistake and the experience will keep them from doing the same thing again."