PRETRIAL DIVERSION UNIT A SUCCESS FOR DA'S OFFICE

Freddie Reeves, as head of the Pretrial Diversion Unit of the Jones County
District Attorney's Office, wears two hats. Reeves acts as both an
investigator and probation officer.

The defendants who qualify for the diversion program have to report
directly to Reeves each month in order to pay restitution to victims, fines
and administrative fees and are subject to random drug and alcohol testing.

All drug testing is now conducted by Reeves at the DA's office rather than
having to farm that function out to a local lab. By doing so, the cost of
such testing has been reduced from $45 to $10 per test. The lowered expense
of the tests are passed on to the defendant.

"We now have 87 active participants in the diversion program," said Reeves.

"Through collection of administrative fees this unit has become completely
self sufficient, even to the point my entire salary is now paid from fees
generated by this program."

Every participant also has to perform a minimum of 300 hours community
service. That results in more than 17,000 hours of essentially free labor
for Jones County per year.

For the year 2001, Reeves collected total fines, fees and restitution in
the amount of $100,573 as compared to $52,089 in 1999.

"Just the numbers themselves pretty much tell the story," Jones County
District Attorney Grant Hedgepeth said. "Coupled with doing the testing
ourselves and saving that expense and Freddie doing the kind of job he's
doing, is evidence enough this unit is working very well in serving the
victims of crime."