Kanawha County Commission president Kent Carper said he has already recommended money be set aside for the initial start-up cost of such a program. At Wise's side when he signed the bill were Hancock Circuit Judge Martin Gaughan and Hancock probation officer Jim Lee. It is their program that precipitated the legislation and, Gaughan said, could provide a working model for the rest of the state. In Gaughan's circuit, judges sentence defendants facing charges like driving under the influence and domestic battery to a term of probation with home confinement as opposed to a brief jail term. As a condition of their probation, defendants must participate in the day reporting program run by Lee.
Carper envisions the Kanawha County program being slightly different.
He would have Sheriff Dave Tucker oversee the program and its budget, rather than the probation office. But in practice, he thinks such a program would be similar to Gaughan and Lee's. It works on three levels that are important. First, it has the element of punishment and deterrence. Second, it provides some public benefit.