SOUTH BEND – On Tuesday, the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners appointed Julie Lawson as director of probation services, a role she has held on an interim basis since Feb. 23, when the board fired DuComb Center director Sharon McBride and launched an investigation into activities there.
McBride, who has held the post since 2011, was and still is president of the South Bend City Council.
Carl Baxmeyer, the commission’s chairman, said the county completed its internal investigation and referred it this spring to two state agencies that are now continuing their investigations.
How it all began: St. Joseph County Commissioners fire Sharon McBride as director of DuComb Center
“It is not in our hands,” he said.
As The Tribune reported, the county’s investigation included the amount of overtime paid to employees at the DuComb Center, a county work-release program, in 2023, as well as the amount paid to McBride’s mother, Delores Walker, who had worked as the facility’s food service director. Walker was fired in March, a month after the investigation began.
The district’s investigation also focused on unusual payments to another DuComb Center employee who retired in early January but stayed on as an independent contractor. And, Baxmeyer said, payments for groceries were also being investigated.
Lawson is now director of probation, a position that has been vacant for several years, though her duties have not changed, Baxmeyer said. Following advice from the county’s Community Corrections Advisory Board, commissioners decided to eliminate the DuComb Center director position and combine the two roles.
The advisory board recommended Lawson for the job.
Before becoming interim director, Lawson served in various roles in the corrections system for over 30 years, including serving as program manager at the DuComb Center for the previous two years.
Commissioners praised her work so far. Commissioner Tony Hazen said she has reduced food costs and created two new revenue streams. Baxmeyer said she is working on building maintenance.
Commissioner Derek Dieter, who has deployed men from the DuComb Center’s work release program to clean up the former county building, Portage Manor, and build trails there, said, “There are a lot of good people there.”
South Bend Tribune reporter Joseph Dits can be reached at 574-235-6158 or [email protected].
