Overview
The Frederick County Alternative Sentencing Program began operation in 1982 as part of the Frederick County Sheriff's Office. The major focus of the Program is to provide a sentencing alternative to the judiciary by ordering nonviolent offenders to perform court-ordered community service hours instead of a jail sentence, points on a driver's license, or a guilty finding. The Program allows minor offenders to maintain their jobs in the community and to continue to lend financial support to the family while minimizing the risk of safety to the community. Instead, defendants are asked to perform court-ordered community service hours. Community service hours are performed on a regular designated schedule at work sites that the program has approved and that meet the criteria as established in the enabling legislation.

The Frederick County Sheriff’s Office Alternative Sentencing Program manages the PADDD Program (Positive Alternatives to Dangerous and Destructive Decisions). Scheduled classes are held on a monthly basis. The Frederick County Judges order participation of the defendants. The PADDD Program and class is designed to prevent impaired and unsafe driving and tailored to “at risk” audiences. The class is taught in collaboration with R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center and local law enforcement, the medical field, the funeral services industry as well as victims and offenders. A sample 3-hour program is as follows:First Hour - “Shock Trauma Perspective of Impaired and Reckless Driving”; Second Hour - “Victims’ Perspective of Dangerous Driving” and Third Hour - “Positive Driving Strategies”.

In 2008, the Alternative Sentencing Program began managing the community service component for the Frederick County Drug Court. The 3rd Millennium Classrooms program was also established. The Alternative Sentencing Program manages court ordered referrals in the completion of an on-line educational class designed for misdemeanor drug and alcohol offenders. Defendants in all programs are required to pay an administrative fee to the agency to offset the cost of the program.

The Frederick County Alternative Sentencing Program is authorized under Correctional Services Codes Section 8-702 of the Annotated Code of Maryland.

Pay your Alternative Sentencing and/or PADDD Program Fee