Mr. John P. Shott
Criminal Justice Advisory Board Planner
jshott@lebcnty.org

Phone:
(717) 273–1557 ext. 5177

Fax:
(717) 273–5516

This committee was formed to assist the Lebanon County Correctional Facility in examining the trends in its population growth and to determine potential solutions for overcrowding. Controlling expansion of the Correctional Facility’s population is not a unique issue to Lebanon. Prisons and Jails around the country are experiencing increases in the number of people they house and innovative solutions are continually needed to combat this predicament.

Formed to tackle the issue of an increasing number of Driving Under the Influence (D.U.I.) arrests in Lebanon County, when the D.U.I. Court is initiated members of this committee will work with those individuals involved with functions of the court to ensure its on-going productivity and success. Also, other suggestions and solutions pertaining to reducing the number of D.U.I.’s in Lebanon County will be examined.

Offenders with a mental health diagnosis offer unique challenges to everyone involved in the criminal justice system. Research nationwide has indicated assisting both the victims of crimes committed by these individuals and treating the Offenders with a mental illness is an intense process replete with rewards when agencies effectively work together. This in mind, the LCCJAB formed the Mental Health committee to ensure that empirically sound, best practice solutions are utilized in Lebanon County when creating new alternatives for working with this population.

This committee was established to study the feasibility and benefits of establishing a special Veterans Treatment Court in Lebanon County. Several counties in our region—Berks, Lancaster, Dauphin, and York—had such courts in place in recognition of the increase in the number of veterans involved in the criminal justice system. Veterans Courts serve to divert eligible veteran offenders suffering from substance dependency or mental illness to a specialized program that provides them with needed treatment, counseling, mentoring, and intensive probation.  In January 2019, Lebanon County became the 21st county in the Commonwealth to have a functioning Veterans' Court.