A Bay County man and other critics object to having a religious organization supervise people on probation.
By Associated Press
Published February 9, 2004
PANAMA CITY - County contracts with the Salvation Army to monitor misdemeanor violators while on probation are being challenged on the grounds that they abridge religious freedom.
Kevin Wood filed an appeal last year in circuit court after he was sentenced to probation and put under the supervision of the Salvation Army Correctional Service. Americans United for Separation of Church and State also is questioning the practice.
Through contracts with Florida counties, including Citrus, Hernando, Pasco, Hillsborough and Pinellas, 30 Salvation Army offices provide supervision for 26,000 probationers, according to the Salvation Army's Web site.
Wood said he was raised Methodist and should not be forced to contribute to the Salvation Army, a branch of the Universal Christian Church. He said no one should be forced to pay supervision fees to or be sentenced to control by a religious organization.
Rob Boston, spokesman for Americans United, said his national watchdog organization is "going to have to have a good, long look" at the issue.
"Folks on probation are often reluctant to complain," he said. "They are in a very precarious situation ... but these (people) are being subjected to this grand experiment of mixing church and state."
Steve Dick, director of development of the Salvation Army in Florida, said there are no religious activities or requirements in the probation program.
He said the contracts have survived previous legal challenges, but he was unable to name a specific case.
Joann Carrin, spokeswoman for the state Attorney General's Office, said no case regarding the Salvation Army Correctional Service has come through the office.
She was unaware of any prohibition against intermingling religious organizations and government entities, but she declined to offer an opinion on Wood's appeal.
Bay County Judge Thomas Welch said issues related to separation of church and state in probation contracts have not been addressed by the courts.
A policy statement in the contract between Bay County and the Salvation Army advised that it is an international Christian and charitable organization and that its officers, who administer all programs, are ministers.
The Salvation Army Correctional Service is part of the organization's not-for-profit corporate entity, but they are separately administered and do not intermingle funds, Dick said.
"It appears to be a very good, solid public-private partnership," Bay County Commissioner Cornel Brock said. "If it's not legal, we don't want to do it, but it appears it is."
