The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office has established a Diversion Unit encompassing several programs dedicated to alternative outcomes for defendants.
Chief Assistant Prosecutor Lynn Heyer will lead the unit, that will include two assistant prosecutors and one salaried law intern paid through a grant.
Diversion broadly refers to ways in which those charged with criminal offenses may avoid imprisonment and, in some cases conviction, by agreeing to certain terms and conditions, often involving professional treatment for underlying causes of criminality.
Diversion can reduce crime and recidivism as well as court caseloads and backlogs when used appropriately and consistently, according to the office.
The unit currently covers five programs, with more expected as personnel and funding allows.
Pretrial intervention, or PTI, is a statutory process in which first-time offenders — most often charged with third- and fourth-degree crimes — may apply to have those charges dismissed following 12 to 36 months of law-abiding behavior.
The State has the ability to apply conditions to their enrollment, including but not limited to restitution, no contact with victims, substance or mental health treatment.
Previously known as drug court, Recover Court has provided a generation of defendants with court-assigned substance-abuse treatment conditioned upon a probationary sentence that may be expunged following successful completion of a three- to five-year term.
Mental Health Court was developed by Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office more than a year before a 2024 statute brought the initiative statewide.
In exchange for accepting and complying with treatment for significant diagnoses mental illnesses, ACPO may provide for downgrades and/or dismissal of eligible criminal charges.
The At-Risk Initiative, or ARI, is a program developed by the office in coordination with the courts and other county stakeholders to address lower-level offenders with patterns of repetitive criminality impacting quality-of-life through burglaries, shoplifting, criminal mischief and more.
This initiative provides these defendants the opportunity for non-custodial sentences conditioned upon compliance with service provider recommendations, often involving substance-abuse and/or mental health treatment.
Alternative Prosecution for Positive Outcomes
The Alternative Prosecution for Positive Outcomes is an innovative new program that aims to interrupt the cycle of violence by giving certain eligible offenders the chance at downgrades or dismissal by agreeing to a course of trauma-informed therapeutic treatment.
This grant-funded program, enacted in partnership with a nationally recognized nonprofit organization, Wellbeing & Equity Innovations, dismisses criminal charges following the completion of six-month individualized programs intended to provide a path toward healing and growth, and away from crime.
With several successful adult graduations in recent months, the program will expand this year to include juvenile offenders.
Creating the unit has been a priority of Atlantic County Prosecutor William Reynolds.
“When I was a municipal prosecutor, I saw thousands of indictable cases remanded to the local municipal courts," Reynolds said. "This failed to protect the interests of the community, and failed the defendants themselves, as they were given neither opportunities for treatment nor meaningful consequences for their conduct.
"We have stopped that practice and now, through these programs, we are giving offenders an opportunity at rehabilitation before it’s too late," he continued. "Failure to have meaningful consequences led to defendants piling up dozens of cases and failed to deter this anti-social behavior.
He said that by now enforcing the laws as written, "we are able to offer opportunities for diversion and treatment in lieu of incarceration."
It's not a free ride, he stressed.
"If a defendant fails to comply with the diversion program requirements, the defendant often faces a state prison sentence rather than a fine in municipal court,” Reynolds said.
The Prosecutor's Office continues to operate additional diversion programs, including:
Unit leader Heyer has been with the office for 22 years, and most recently is the primary Recovery Court and Animal Cruelty prosecutor.
“I have found, as the proverb says, that ‘if we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep walking,’" Heyer said. "I am proud to lead this unit and help those in need find the ‘right direction.’”
Not all defendants and offenses are eligible for these programs.
Each provides a path toward additional prosecution and even imprisonment should defendants re-offend or fail to take advantage of the opportunities presented.
See the prosecutor's website for more information on these and other programs.