12/20/17 – 5:06 A.M.

The Hancock County probation department is getting an extra officer to help deal with an increasing caseload. The Courier reports the commissioners voted to pay $20,000 toward the cost of the new officer during their Tuesday meeting. The money is coming from contingency funds. They’ll replace it when the county gets state funds in February.

The commissioners previously cut $75,000 from the court’s 2018 budget.

Kim Switzer is the director of court services and chief probation officer. She says the department will use part of the Targeted Community Alternative to Prison state grant funds to pay for the rest of the officer’s salary and benefits.

Representatives from the court say probation officers are handling 77 cases each. The standard load is 20 per officer.

MORE: The Courier