Final Belknap County budget undermines corrections goalsBy ROGER AMSDEN, LACONIA DAILY SUNLACONIA — The Belknap County Delegation approved a $27.9 million budget Tuesday night that significantly cuts a key program at the new Belknap Community Corrections Center. The adopted budget reduces funding for the CORE program by $92,000, from $220,000 to $128,000. The county has had a pilot program run by Horizons Counseling Center for nearly two years. There also has been coordination with prosecutors and probation officers to require participation in the CORE program as a condition to be imposed by judges in court cases. County Commission Chairman Dave DeVoy (R-Sanbornton) said the CORE program is one of the keys to the success of the new corrections center in reducing recidivism and that legislators were fully aware of the costs associated with the program when they voted unanimously in late 2015 to approve an $8 million bond for the center.

Source: Daily Sun February 22, 2018 05:26 UTC