Most people on the criminal docket got there because they are undereducated, underemployed and almost always under the influence of alcohol or drugs.  As such, the best interests of the community are best served most of the time by giving those people the opportunity to get the help they need - that had they gotten sooner - may have kept them from getting into trouble in the first place. We call this opportunity “probation." The staggering lack of success of the traditional probation model is one of the primary reasons Kentucky has the highest per capita prison population in the country.

S.M.A.R.T. probation represents a shift from simply monitoring behavior, to trying to modify behavior.  Similar to the tried and true Drug Court model, S.M.A.R.T. probationers are given a clear understanding of what is expected of them and what they can expect in return.  Good choices are rewarded.  Bad choices are dealt with swiftly, surely and proportionally.

Our goal is to increase the likelihood of each probationer’s success through meaningful:
Supervision 
Motivation
Accountability
Responsibility; and 
Treatment;
that is, by being S.M.A.R.T.

The benefits to our community include a decreased prison population along with a correspondingly increased productive citizen population.  The benefits to the probationer include a legitimate chance and a new and better life.

While the people of this community have a right to expect that the judges they elect will be tough on crime, they should also expect that we will be smart on crime.

Judge McKay Chauvin

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