Judge honored for ex-prisoner program

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - An Indiana judge has received a national award for his work starting a program that aims to reduce the number of released prisoners who get in legal trouble again.

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts presented the award to Allen County Superior Court Judge John Surbeck during a ceremony Thursday in Washington. Surbeck is the 17th recipient of the National Center for State Courts' William Rehnquist award and the first from Indiana, The Journal Gazette reported .

Surbeck said he started the Allen County Re-Entry Court in 2001 after becoming frustrated by the number of repeat offenders he had seen since becoming a judge in 1988. He said he decided his rulings and sentences in criminal cases "didn't seem to make any difference."

"Because as a public defender I had represented the first generation of these folks," Surbeck said. As a judge, "I sentenced a second generation. And then 10 or 12 years in, I was sentencing the third generation for the same crimes."

Allen County's re-entry court program allows for the early release of prison inmates in exchange for closer court monitoring — including random drug tests and ankle tracking bracelets — than under typical parole and probation programs.

Indiana Chief Justice Brent Dickson said five years after the court was started, its criminal recidivism rate was 34 percent, compared with 60 percent nationwide. More than 600 people have been through the program since it started.

Surbeck "decided to go beyond the call of duty as a judge," Dickson said, "... and to innovate, promote and outreach, to make a difference in the lives of the offenders and their families and in the level of public safety in his community."

Surbeck said the program faced some "naysayers," but he also received encouragement from colleagues around Indiana. Surbeck says he started the Fort Wayne program in 2001 after becoming frustrated over the number of repeat criminal offenders. The re-entry court allows for the early release of prison inmates in exchange for closer monitoring than under typical parole and probation programs.