§62-11C-1. Legislative intent.

(a) The Legislature hereby declares that the purpose of this article is to enable any county or Class I or II municipality or any combination of counties and Class I or II municipalities to develop, establish and maintain community-based corrections programs to provide the judicial system with sentencing alternatives for those offenders who may require less than institutional custody.

(b) The goals of developing community-based corrections programs include:

(1) Allowing individual counties or combinations of a county or counties and a Class I or II municipality greater flexibility and involvement in responding to the problem of crime in their communities;

(2) Providing more effective protection of society and promoting efficiency and economy in the delivery of correctional services;

(3) Providing increased opportunities for offenders to make restitution to victims of crime through financial reimbursement;

(4) Permitting counties or combinations of a county or counties and a Class I or II municipality to operate programs specifically designed to meet the rehabilitative needs of offenders;

(5) Providing appropriate sentencing alternatives with the goal of reducing the incidence of repeat offenders;

(6) Permitting counties or combinations of a county or counties and a Class I or II municipality to designate community-based programs to address local criminal justice needs;

(7) Diverting offenders from the state regional jail or correctional facilities by punishing them with community-based sanctions, thereby reserving state regional jail or correctional facilities for those offenders who are deemed to be most dangerous to the community; and

(8) Promoting accountability of offenders to their community.