YORK – During their last meeting, the York County Commissioners met with Carrie Rodriguez, director of District 5 Probation, as she made her annual report and budget request.
In 2025, a total of 549 people in York County received services through probation. The following is a breakdown:
- Adult investigations: 166
- Adult supervision: 299
- Problem solving court: 20
- Total adults: 485
- Youth investigations: 22
- Youth supervision: 42
- Total youth: 64
- Overall total: 549
During her visit, Rodriguez also asked the commissioners to renew the county’s contract with Seward County in order to continue the local problem solving court, which the commissioners did.
As explained, problem solving courts (also referred to as drug courts) are for individuals who are facing a felony charge related to a substance use addiction, who are at high risk to reoffend. The individual participates in intensive treatment services, classes, stabilized housing, classes regarding pro-social support systems, obtains gainful employment, participates in home visits and undergoes drug testing multiple days a week. Participants are in the program for a minimum of 18 months. At the end of that time period, if they meet all program requirements, their felony charge is dismissed.
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Rodriguez said problem solving courts are the most effective form of intervention, with lower recidivism rates than traditional probation, jail or prison terms. She said problem solving court clients, “because of their long histories of substance abuse and their felony charges, more than likely would have been sentenced to prison, if not for this program.”
Rodriguez also explained how “probation has a designated probation officer on call 24-7 to respond to law enforcement when they request a juvenile intake. This is when a juvenile has committed a new law violation and law enforcement does not think it is safe for the community if the juvenile returns home. We are also called for a juvenile intake if a juvenile has a warrant outstanding or is a runaway from another state. York County had 12 juvenile intakes in 2025, up from six in 2024.”
She also noted how probation conducted 3,892 drug tests in York County in 2025. These are randomly collected from probationers.
Rodriguez noted how the costs of probation are less than incarceration. She said adult probation costs $5.08 a day for medium and low risk; $9.60 a day for high risk; and $13.71 a day for problem solving court. Juvenile probation costs $35.21 a day. Prison costs $123.29 a day, per inmate. And the average jail cost, per inmate, in District 5, is $79 a day.
Rodriguez also added how the state spent $1,078,479 on probation costs in York County in 2025, which would have otherwise been the county’s responsibility if probation services were not provided by the state.
Rodriguez said York County’s probation costs (beyond providing office space) will be $33,997.75, which is just a slight increase over the year before when it was $33,312.86.
