The Martin County Board this week approved a motion authorizing the Martin County Probation Department to utilize supervision fees to offset the costs of domestic violence programming incurred by adult probationers.

The Legislature mandates that Department of Corrections staff impose supervision fees on adult offenders who are placed on supervised probation, and the amount of the fee is based on the level of the offense. Currently, the collected fees are paying for juvenile restitution Sentence-to-Serve reimbursements, contracted bail studies and to offset transportation costs related to juvenile clients and their families.

Commissioners have set a public hearing for 10 a.m. Dec. 18 on a proposed social host ordinance. The ordinance would hold individuals responsible for hosting or knowingly providing a place for underage drinking to occur.

County Attorney Terry Viesselman made a recommendation, should the board decide to move forward, to choose the model ordinance recently adopted by Truman. This model contains clear definitions for what constitutes terms such as “alcohol” or “alcoholic beverages,” and what constitutes “events” and “gatherings.” It states that it is unlawful for any person to host or allow an event or gathering where alcohol or alcoholic beverages are present when an underage person consumes any alcohol or alcoholic beverage. The ordinance also states that it is unlawful for any person hosting such an event to fail to take reasonable steps to prevent consumption by the underage person.

The board approved a motion to set an alternative meeting date for the board’s first meeting in December. It will be held 4:30 p.m. Dec. 6 in order to dovetail with the truth in taxation hearing set for 6 pm that night.