COMMUNITY SERVICE SECTION

The Community Service Section (CSS) provides community-based sentences for adults and juveniles judged in either Howard County’s Circuit or District Courts. The CSS Program also takes in clients referred from the County’s State’s Attorney’s Office, Police Department, Department of Juvenile Services, or an outside jurisdiction.

The Sheriff’s Office provides the majority of the Community Service Section’s funding and staffs the section with a Lieutenant, five caseworkers, and two office managers. Members of the Community Service Section interview and complete criminal record checks on all clients and then assign them to one of 80 participating nonprofit or government agencies.

In addition to assigning clients traditional forms of community service, the CSS offers the Positive Alternatives to Dangerous and Destructive Decisions (PADDD) program, in conjunction with Shock Trauma for “at risk” drivers.