MCSO civil citation program aims to help first-time minor crime offenders stay out of jail

The Manatee County Sheriff's Office is implementing a pre-arrest diversion program to help adults who commit minor offenses stay out of jail, but local faith leaders advocating for the effort were disappointed to learn it will not include reprieve for those who commit minor traffic infractions.

Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells announced plans for the program on Monday following a meeting with a group called Stronger Together Reaching Equality Across Manatee comprised of 15 multicultural and interfaith congregations.

The group has advocated for formal implementation by local law enforcement and held a prayer vigil outside of the Sheriff's office in March to ask Wells to implement a program that includes a change in policy to issue civil citations for minor traffic infractions instead of arrests.

Previously: Manatee faith leaders demonstrate for change of Sheriff's Office policies

More: Manatee faith leaders call for diversion program implementation from Sheriff's Office

Wells and representatives from every law enforcement agency in Manatee County met with STREAM leaders on Monday to inform them they would not honor that request but would formalize existing efforts to address the root issue — creating criminal records that can haunt residents for life at young ages over minor offenses that never materialize into a pattern of criminal behavior.

"We do a lot with juvenile citations," Wells said. "We truly believe that juveniles need a second chance. We want to keep that record off of their background, we want to help them in any way we can. But they're juveniles, they make stupid mistakes. Adults already know. I get a ticket, pay the fine."

Wells indicated the program does not create new forms of reprieve, but leaders from other local agencies indicated their departments could also follow suit with similar policies.

"We're putting it into a format called the adult civil citation program, it will be minor misdemeanors such as retail theft first-time offender, minor marijuana offenses, you know a couple of grams first-time offender," Wells said. "It's going to be first-time offenders, and I'll tell you right now we don't get a lot of those."

"We are not going to write adult civil citations for someone that's driving on a suspended driver's license," he said. "There is liability there."

Father Glen Graczyk, of the St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Palmetto, said STREAM would continue to advocate the cause, but acknowledged concern voiced by law enforcement officials during Monday's meeting. He did promote aspects of the program that are being implemented.

"It's not what we wanted totally, we had hoped really for those non-violent traffic offenses, but they pledged to do this, and we are very happy with that," Graczyk said.

Wells indicated there are state-approved mechanisms in place to offer reprieve to first-time offenders who did not know they were driving with a suspended license.

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He also previously told the Herald-Tribune that first-time offenders found driving with a suspended driver’s license typically receive an infraction citation and not a misdemeanor charge. He added that driving with an expired tag is not an infraction unless the tag has been expired for more than six months and that the majority of expired tags result in a summons and not an arrest.

"The fact that someone would be given an adult civil citation because they have a suspended driver's license doesn't eliminate the fact that they have to go get their driver's license reinstated," Wells said. "They still have to pay the fines, they still have to do what's necessary to get their license back. And when we write a civil citation, I think it's a liability because they continue to think they can drive."

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: MCSO program aims to help first-time offenders stay out of jail