Palmer DA recognized for creating Pretrial Diversion Program

During the November 18 meeting of the Mat-Su Borough Assembly, Assembly member Dimitri Fonov, along with MSB Planning Deputy Director Jason Ortiz, took time to recognize Alaska Department of Law, the Palmer District Attorney’s Office, and District Attorney (DA) Trina Sears for their collaborative work with the Pretrial Diversion Program.

The diversion program was established to help address low-level offenders through alternative and supportive approaches to restitution and reduce reliance on traditional prosecution and incarceration. Under the program guidelines, the DA's Office refers defendants with low-level misdemeanors to the Mat-Su Borough to complete community work service in exchange for dismissals or reductions in charges or sentences. The pretrial diversion program puts the referrals to work to help clean up the derelict properties around the Borough. DA Sears wrote the Memorandum of Understanding to initiate the program.

Ortiz told the assembly that programs like this are actually quite common in the lower 48, offering people with low-level misdemeanor offenses the opportunity to work with the Borough doing physical labor—typically helping remove blight and trash from land throughout the Borough—rather than pay fines or

“In the short time that we’ve had this program, it’s been very successful. We’ve had 20 participants, with 14 successfully completing the program. About 400 hours of community service. 32 tons of junk has been removed from the Borough,” he reported.

He said that every Tuesday, the Diversion Program coordinator attends court, and when people are referred to the program, making the initial contact to get them started to join the program.

Ortiz said that unlike other community service programs, which gives offenders six or twelve months to complete their service hours, and often extensions are requested, Borough officials are there in the courtroom, showing they are fully invested in assisting people to complete their service.

“We’re actually working with those people. We’re seeing them complete their hours fast. What that means to taxpayers is that we’re saving money. We’re plucking them out of the court system right there and there’s no longer any costs.” He is referring to the costs for the DA, court costs, probation costs, or other related costs. The diversion program has resulted in cost savings to the State by reducing reliance on traditional prosecution and incarceration while promoting more effective use of public resources.

DA Sears said that the participants are low-level offenders without victims, and the program offers them an opportunity to resolve their cases quickly and give back to the community.

“We are trying every week to send as many offenders as we can to the Borough because we recognize the value in cleaning up the Borough. And the value that they can give back.” She said that her office intends to continue increasing participation in the program.

Fonov told the assembly that he recently met with members from Frontline Mission, who reported that they had some people coming through the program that were able to serve in the food bank, and that he is looking at other organizations to form partnerships for the diversion program. Ortiz added that he met with the Salvation Army and senior center and is looking forward to working with them in the future.

According to the Alaska Department of Law, there has been a notable increase in participants recommended to the program, logging more than 228 hours of participant time, “reflecting strong community involvement and commitment to restorative justice, according to the Mat-Su Borough resolution.”

“This is really important and we’re doing good things,” said Ortiz. “We’re saving the state money, we’re getting the Valley cleaned up, and we’d like to see it continue and thrive.”