INDIANAPOLIS -- Marion County judges have been told to stop putting offenders into a community corrections alcohol-monitoring program, in part because more than 180 of the county's leased monitoring devices are missing or damaged, 6News' Jack Rinehart reported Wednesday.

Also a factor in halting the program: A vendor stopped supplying devices to the county community corrections agency because the agency hasn't paid its bill for at least three months -- a symptom of the county's failure to collect fees from the most of the offenders who wore them last year, Rinehart reported.

The uncollected 2007 fees and the cost of the damaged and lost equipment represent a $3.4 million loss for the community corrections agency.

"We've got to do a better job, and hopefully the courts will help us in collecting the money from those that are on the program," Marion County community corrections Director Brian Barton said.

The program helps the agency enforce any judge-imposed alcohol restrictions on offenders under its supervision. An offender would wear a Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor (SCRAM), which would alert the agency if he or she began drinking.

The offenders wearing the SCRAMs are supposed to pay the agency a $12 daily fee. The agency said 53 percent of SCRAM wearers didn't pay the fee last year -- a record for the county.

More than 690 people in Marion County were wearing SCRAMs this week.

Missing devices also are hurting the agency. One hundred eighty-six SCRAMs are missing or damaged, the agency said.

"People abscond, they leave, they cut their bracelets," Barton said.

Barton said he'll hire a full-time worker who will "bring that equipment back in."

The agency also monitors about 250 home detainees with Global Positioning System devices. About 80 such devices are missing or damaged, Barton said.

Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi is critical of the agency's handling of the situation.

"Literally every month there is another excuse given by community corrections as to why they can't do their job, why they can't be accountable for the equipment and why they're running out of money," Brizzi said.