Repeat DUI offenders in Tempe will soon be eligible for home detention and alcohol treatment after spending 10 days in jail.
Tempe City Council passed a resolution Thursday adopting a home detention program as a sentencing option for repeat DUI offenders.
If sentenced to home detention, offenders would wear an ankle device and have to take regular Breathalyzer tests, according to Loraine Arkfeld, Tempe Municipal Court presiding judge.
"This program would offer some options for judges to consider different ways of dispensing justice," said Mark Stadola, deputy court manager for the Tempe Municipal Court. "[Prisoners] wouldn't have to sit in one of Sheriff Joe [Arpaio's] tents."
While under home detention, prisoners can go to school, work or counseling with a home detention officer's approval.
The prisoner would also receive several calls throughout the day to confirm that they were actually at work, school, or home.
Police also can monitor the prisoner through the ankle device, which connects to a special phone and has a radius of about 200 feet, according to Mark Stone, said an officer at the Chandler police department.
Arkfeld said home detention might be a good situation for the few repeat offenders who go to ASU.
"With the home detention program, they would have to have someone drive them to school," Arkfeld said.
The home detention program should be in place by June, Arkfeld said.
The program would cost about $4 to $15 a day, up to 80 percent less than traditional jail time, according to a report submitted to the council.
To be eligible, prisoners could not have a history of violent behavior and must be employed or enrolled in school as a full-time student in Maricopa County, according to the report.
Prisoners would also have to serve 10 days in jail before entering the home detention treatment. They would also have to agree to immediate substance abuse treatment, Stadola said.
Arkfeld said there are many benefits to the home detention program that make it easier for repeat offenders to get treatment and be productive.
"When they are in home detention, they can go to work and generate funds to pay off debt and provide for their family," Arkfeld said.
Judy Tapscott, Tempe Social Services manager, said the program is helpful to the community because it treats alcoholism.
"The program affords both detention and treats the real problem," Tapscott said. "This is much more helpful to the community than prison."
If prisoners violate any conditions of the home detention program, they may have to serve the balance of their time in prison, Tapscott said.
Tucson and Chandler municipal courts have similar home detention programs, according to the report.
"We were aware that other people were using it," Arkfeld said. "Upon further research, it seemed like a good situation."
Arkfeld said the home detention program would be completely optional for those who receive the offer.
"But my assumption is that most people would want to do this," she said.
The court must now locate a vendor for the ankle bracelets and set up a screening and supervision program through the social services department, Arkfeld added.
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Reach the reporter at meagan.pollnow@asu.edu.
