LAWTON – Anyone convicted in municipal court here of a misdemeanor offense will now have the option of performing community service rather than paying a fine and court costs or being incarcerated.
“The intent is to promote community service and, as much as possible, keep people out of jail,” City Manager John Ratliff said. Previously only individuals convicted of littering were accorded the option of community service, but now anyone convicted of any municipal offense will be eligible, he said.
Felony offenses committed in Lawton must be referred to the Comanche County District Court because they cannot be prosecuted in the municipal court.
The new ordinance established a credit rate of $16.67 per hour of community service, or the federal minimum wage rate, whichever is greater; the current rate is $15/ hour. The City Council also shifted responsibility for supervision of the program from the Police Department to the Parks and Recreation Department.
Parks Director Larry Parks will be the “point person for community service assignments,” the new policy stipulates.
The Parks and Recreation director “shall coordinate with each department director desiring to use community service workers,” the council policy decrees. In addition, the municipal judge may assign offenders to perform community service for private, nonprofit organizations.
Each defendant will be assigned to community service duties for 3 to 6 hours per day “unless otherwise specified by the municipal judge.”
The Parks and Recreation Department director may use city personnel to supervise individuals performing community service, and supervisors must “ensure that the worker is actually engaged in productive community service work,” the policy provides. Defendants will be supervised “at all times,” Parks said. And Ratliff said state law “requires us to maintain a ratio” of supervisors to offenders.
If a defendant refuses to accept community service, the court will impose a fine and/ or incarceration “as appropriate.”