After weeks of controversy and debate, the Butte County board of supervisors decides to look further into the actual intent of a law in which fees paid by domestic violence offenders are distributed to prevention programs. They discussed the issue Tuesday morning. The board of supervisors allocated extra money paid by domestic violence offenders to the Butte County district attorney's office a couple weeks ago, but Catalyst workers say this does not follow the law. Several workers from Catalyst attended the meeting to explain their line of work, and why it is important that the funds go to their program. Catalyst executive director Anastacia Snyder explained her interpretation of the bill and why she believes the funds are specifically designated for prevention work, work she says the district attorney's office does not provide. She explained, "We're really excited that the board of supervisors is looking at prevention work and how to define that and come up with some guidelines and standards around that. That's exciting to us."
Butte County district attorney Mike Ramsey explained the rigorous programs his team provides to prevent domestic violence offenders from offending again, saying his office is in fact entitled to the money. He told Action News, "It's unfortunate that Catalyst doesn't believe there's enough room under the tent for everyone."
Supervisors plan to study the bill and see if other counties may have come across this same issue in the past, before they make a final decision. They will take up the issue again in two weeks.
