In a mutually agreed decision during the North Central Community Corrections board meeting on Tuesday, Barbour, Taylor and Preston counties have left the six-county program.

NCCC Executive Director Travis Carter explained there are no hard feelings among the counties and that he and the board have the utmost respect for all the judges who have been and are part of the program. Carter attributes the division to the fact that rules and regulations for one county may not be what is best for another.

Carter's duties included overseeing operations in each of the counties participating in the NCCC. Carter explained the supervising role ended immediately and the three counties will be in charge of their respective operations. The financial disbursement role of NCCC will cease at the end of the fiscal year.

Circuit Court Judge Alan Moats, 19th District, which covers Taylor and Barbour counties said Community Corrections programs are in early stages and state government has encouraged multiple county programs. However, Moats said the area covered by NCCC was too large. Hours of travel time for board meetings was not necessarily conducive to ensure communities had input on how the program worked for their own area, Moats explained. Local communities need to have "faith" in the program in order to make it a worthwhile effort, he said.

The exact plans for how the three counties will conduct community corrections operations will be determined at a later date and with the input of the respective county commissions, according to Moats. The judge added that he wants to keep Taylor and Barbour counties programs together.

NCCC expanded quickly and Carter considers the increase and decrease of participating counties part of the program's "growing pains" and a learning experience.

Department of Criminal Justice Services provides grant funding to the various community programs in the state. At the end of June, NCCC was awarded $400,000 for its six-county operation. Carter does not foresee difficulties in receiving grant awards in the future because of the number of participants and the strength in Randolph County's program. Randolph County alone has had more participants in the program than Barbour, Preston and Taylor counties combined, Carter explained. NCCC has strong support at the state level, Carter considers the operation one of the best in West Virginia.

Carter does not consider the departures as a negative. He said with a smaller district, board members will be able to focus efforts on the three remaining counties, which are Randolph, Tucker and Pocahontas.

Communities Corrections is a very important program and counties should reap the benefits, Carter says. He wished the departing counties the best for the future and says he and the board will still be available to provide assistance if it's requested.