Nothing from Tom Marendt's wide-ranging career in education and government administration hinted at a detour into the justice system.

But board members who appointed Marendt last month as director of Marion County Community Corrections say his management skills will be key for an agency in transition.

The appointee will work to regain the confidence of some justice system players who have criticized lax accountability in the agency that provides alternatives to prison and jail. He also will come aboard as agency officials look for ways to free up employees so they can work more closely with people assigned to the agency's work-release, home-detention and monitoring programs.

Long active in Marion County Republican politics, Marendt, 57, served three terms as Warren Township trustee, drawing notice for his opposition to then-Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson's government-consolidation proposals. Marendt lost the 2006 election by an 11-vote margin after a recount.

The agency's advisory board selected Marendt from four finalists by unanimous voice vote Nov. 13. The appointment still needs approval from the City-County Council.

Marendt said the new job offered an opportunity "to contribute to the well-being of our city."

He can learn the ins and outs of the justice system on the job, said Marion Superior Court Judge William Young, the advisory board's chairman. But Marendt's management skills, Young added, are more difficult to learn quickly.

"Tom is, first and foremost, a very excellent administrator," said Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi, who votes by proxy at board meetings. "Community corrections needs . . . someone who can provide oversight and accept personal responsibility for what happens there."

Brian Barton, who directed the agency for 11 years, left in June after months of public sparring with board members over proposed changes and his leadership.

Marendt said once his appointment is final, he will meet with each employee and review the agency's budget and programs thoroughly.

On the agency's immediate horizon is a proposed settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana over conditions at the Community Corrections Center, also known as the jail annex, 147 E. Maryland St. Expected to be filed soon in U.S. District Court, the agreement would end the use of the minimum-security facility to house inmates by February.

Board officials said during a recent meeting that a proposed renovation exceeding $1 million still wouldn't have brought the aging building up to corrections standards.

Only about two dozen inmates remain there, and Young said the Duvall Residential Center, a 350-bed work-release facility opened last year, has extra beds to pick up some slack. The Near-Eastside facility has prompted complaints from neighborhood groups about problems caused by its presence, but Young said agency officials are working to resolve them.

Board members said Marendt will take over amid pushes for several changes:

Shifting caseworkers' duties so they spend less time keeping tabs on fee payments and paperwork and more time performing individual assessments and helping people in their programs connect with jobs, training and treatment help.

The board is considering hiring a contractor to take over monitoring and technical functions for the home-detention program.

"Our goal at community corrections is for everybody to be reintegrated as successful members of society," Young said. "It's not going to be this shotgun approach we've taken in the past."

Seeking a partnership with the Indiana Department of Correction that would result in the state agency handling security work at community corrections facilities. The county agency, Young said, would focus fully on its social services functions.

Regaining confidence from other criminal justice partners such as Brizzi, whose deputy prosecutors no longer ask judges to order defendants to wear alcohol-monitoring devices.

"They don't have confidence in the way it's run and the way (violations are) reported," Brizzi said.

The prosecutor predicted a common purpose moving forward, with Marendt leading the agency. "Everybody sees the need for this agency to be run efficiently and correctly," Brizzi said.

Count among them Les Duvall, who retired from the board soon after voting for Marendt's appointment.

The former state senator -- and the Duvall center's namesake -- had been on the board since the agency's inception in the 1980s. Since then, he's seen community corrections programs grow, filling the gap between incarceration and probation.

"We've come so far since then, it's day and night," Duvall said. "A lot more people are getting out and capable of staying out (of trouble)."

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