Commonwealth’s Attorney Parker Boggs met with members of the Community Service Leadership Council (CSLC) on Thursday to discuss the program’s progress to date and its continued future mission in Harlan County.

While members of the CSLC have continued to meet and develop the infrastructure of the community service program with Boggs and his staff, Thursday proved to be a landmark occasion for the CSLC and Commonwealth’s Attorney Boggs’ community service program.

The CSLC and distinguished guests, including magistrates Clark Middleton and Jim Roddy, Harlan Circuit Judge Kent Hendrickson, Harlan Deputy Judge Executive Colby Goss, Harlan Animal Control Officer Duncan Caldwell, Harlan Solid Waste Coordinator Lakis Mavinidis and others were presented with 12 service candidates available for assignment in Boggs’ community service program.

These 12 participants represented over 17,000 hours of mandatory community service work between them.

Boggs presented the CSLC with profiles of each participant and organized a discussion that focused on available and appropriate placement locations that were accepting service contributions.

Boggs recommended that each participant be placed at approved locations in or near the participant’s home district to make their community service tasks manageable while affording them the ability to give back to the community they may have damaged or harmed in the past.

“This program has come a long way since its inception,” Boggs said. “What was once just a dream and a plan is now a working and functioning program that is providing Harlan County with a sustainable source of court ordered community service. For the first time, we were able to present the CSLC with a detailed and organized list of participants ready for service placement. As a group, the CSLC was then able to take that information and discuss the appropriate placement for each participant to maximize the service benefit to all involved. We expect this to be the normal framework of each meeting moving forward, with the CSLC becoming the intake hub responsible for participant placement assignments. This will allow the Department of Probation and Parole to manage the supervision of each participant with clearly defined roles and responsibilities.”

Boggs noted that these 12 participants were recommended for placement throughout the county. He was able to initiate placement agreements with various governmental and non-profit agencies from Cumberland to Benham, Harlan to Wallins, Teetersville to Cawood, and the City of Evarts.

“With only 12 participants we are in the process of inundating these communities with over 17,000 hours of service, imagine what we could do with 25 more,” Boggs said.

According to Boggs, the state mandates that these particular participants receive probated sentences.

“I am determined to ensure that they give something back to their communities while taking part in the state’s supervised release program,” Boggs said. “This program has provided support for several programs in its short history. We have already been a part of service work in Benham, Evarts, the Cloverfork area, Sunshine and Cawood. Now, we are actively involved in initiating even more sustained service work throughout the four corners of Harlan County.”

With the success the program has seen to date, Boggs feels like the future of the CSLC is bright.

“We have accomplished a lot in a short period of time due to the hard work of the CSLC members and the continued support of the Division of Probation and Parole,” Boggs said. “I feel that we have a lot to look forward to in the future. This program is still in its infancy, but all signs point to continued success and sustained community service within Harlan County for the foreseeable future.”