We’re in tough times, economically speaking. It makes sense to look at every public contract to see if any extra pennies can be pinched. If that is what Gwinnett’s State Court judges were trying to do when it picked a new private probation company, it sure doesn’t look that way.

Professional Probation Services, the 18-year-old company owned by State Rep. and Congressional candidate Clay Cox, had held the contract for 10 years and had received high marks from the judges. When time to renew the contract rolled around, however, Gwinnett State Court Judge Robert Mock awarded the contract to another company, Southeast Corrections.

Will the county save money? We may never know. After advertising the contract for competitive bidding, Judge Mock awarded the contract to Southeast Corrections without even opening the bids. Perhaps he expects us to ignore the fact that the majority owner of Southeast Corrections is former County-Commissioner-turned-mega-developer Wayne Mason, someone who has leveraged his connections to his financial benefit for years.

The State Court is allowed to pick a private probation company without competitive bidding, but that doesn’t make it right. The County Commission can sign off on the contract at its May 4th meeting, but I would rather the BoC “encourage” the judges to join the county’s effort to cut costs. Put the contract out for proper bidding and pick the best qualified low bidder.

Private probation is a big business in Gwinnett County responsible for collecting more than $2 million in state court fines, plus another estimated $1.5 million in fees paid to the company.

I-Team: Gwinnett Probation 042610 | myfoxatlanta.com