SOS offers choices for legal clientele

From her office inside the STD East Flea Market at 1820 E. Trafficway, Ste. A, Sherry Little works to give some legal defendants different options for satisfying judicial sentences.

Little began her business, Sentencing Option Services Inc., in July, and she uses her master's degree in social work and her triple majors in psychology, sociology and criminal justice to operate the company.

What she does, Little said, is to propose sentencing alternatives for clients who have been found guilty or have pled guilty to some types of crime.

"Each proposed alternative is directly in relation to the needs of the client. For instance, if the client's problems stem from substance abuse, then possibly some type of substance-abuse program would be proposed," Little said. "It might be inpatient rehabilitative residential care services; it might be outpatient programs; it might include intensive supervision probation."

The recommendations she makes are within the Missouri Sentencing Commission's sentencing guidelines, which allow different types of sentencing to be considered by the courts for various classes of crime.

During her education, Little trained with Joan Burke-Kelly, a licensed counselor of social work who is the alternative sentencing specialist assigned to help clients in the Missouri State Public Defender's region that includes Greene County.

"When I was working ... at the Public Defender's Office, I realized that, for the past 10 years, alternative sentencing services have been provided for clients of the public defender," Little said.

She wasn't aware of any alternative sentencing services available to private-pay clients who pay for their own legal representation, and that's where Sentencing Option Services fits in. Little said it's important that private attorneys realize SOS isn't designed to compete against them. In fact, Little and SOS are recommended to clients by their attorneys and essentially become a member of the defense team, she said.

"Attorneys do actually work for their clients in the respect that I do ... depending on the client, the case and the attorney what resources they have available to them I'm sure that they would utilize and work for appropriate sentencing," Little said.

But, she added, working on sentencing alternatives can be time-consuming for attorneys. By referring clients to SOS, Little said, attorneys can still get appropriate sentencing recommendations for their clients but save themselves time. Alternative sentencing also can relieve burdens on jails, she added.

"It can ease the burden of overcrowding the jails and prisons and increase the space available for violent offenders," Little said.

Extensive background research is one thing she does for her clients.

"The person's social history is taken and investigated," Little said. Through her company, she also can serve as an expert witness for clients based on her research and findings. In some cases, she also can find other individuals to corroborate her findings and her sentencing proposals in court on behalf of her clients.

Judges do not have to accept the sentencing alternatives Little proposes, and she said there's no guarantee that the judges will do so. But regardless of whether the alternative sentencing is accepted by the courts, Little is paid for her services. She said the fees she charges are negotiated and are based on each case and each individual client's circumstances.

Since opening for business, Little, the sole employee of SOS, has been busy telling local, private defense attorneys about her company. And her business is growing.

"I was actually contacted by an individual from Canada that had a client in Missouri," she said.

SOS now is involved with three cli-ents, and Little has completed two cases, one of which was a parole plan.