ALTO, Ga. — The Town of Alto has formally ended its probation services agreement with the City of Demorest, one week after Demorest voted to dissolve the intergovernmental arrangement and hire a private company to provide the services.
The Alto Town Council approved the mutual termination Tuesday following an executive session to discuss litigation.
Mayor Gail Armour called for a motion “to have a mutual termination of Demorest’s probation agreement with the Town of Alto starting today, September the eighth.”
The council approved the termination, ending an agreement that allowed the two cities to jointly provide probation services through their municipal court operations.
The decision follows action taken by the Demorest City Council on Sept. 1. Demorest voted 3-1 to dissolve its existing agreement with Alto before approving a new agreement with CRSA Professional Services.
Demorest City Manager Mark Musselwhite said last week that probation services allow individuals who cannot immediately pay municipal court fines to establish payment plans and make monthly payments. The probation provider collects a percentage of those payments and remits revenue to the city.
Demorest had budgeted $20,000 in probation services revenue for the current year but had received approximately $2,400 during the first seven months, Musselwhite said.
Councilman Allen Fox told Now Georgia following Tuesday’s meeting that the discussion leading to Alto’s decision took place during executive session.
Fox said Mayor Armour and he planned to meet with Musselwhite on Wednesday.
“They wanted out and were amenable to me. Obviously, we’re amenable,” Fox said, indicating Alto was willing to agree to end the arrangement after Demorest decided to move in another direction.
Both cities have now formally taken action to terminate the agreement.
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