Karen Newman

Clay County Judge Michelle Lawson appeared before the county commission to present the annual report update on behalf of the Treatment Court team at the county board’s January 26 meeting.  She opened her remarks saying, “The Clay County board has supported us financially since our court began in 2007 and that support does not go unnoticed.”

Lawson continued, “Our Veterans Court has been very low census, really since we started.” She went on to explain that as the court began in 2007, there were more veterans involved with the justice system than there are currently.   She ventured that numbers may have been higher than normal at that time due to a military unit newly returned from deployment which skewed numbers higher.  She added that initial data gathering methods to determine program eligibility have improved since 2007.  

Explaining that low participation numbers in Treatment Court are deceptive, Lawson said, “Don’t let those low numbers fool you though. Even though the numbers are very low in terms of the people who come into the program, the impact, as it relates to our program on those folks that come in, is tough to describe.”  So that the commissioners might understand the positive effects of the treatment court program, Lawson invited commission members to come to the program’s graduation ceremonies which are now virtual due to Covid-19.

Clay/Becker Treatment Court Coordinator Don Kautzman reported that the program and hearings continue virtually for participants through the pandemic. He said, “All of them are on at the same time with the judge and the team.  The participants are able to see each other and hear each other and continue to be a support system for each other. We didn’t want to lose that.” 

Current Treatment Court statistics:

· 22 participants

· 16 men

·  6 women

Program statistics since 2007:

· 48 participants terminated unsuccessfully since 2007

· 99 graduates since 2007. (Graduate #100 Drug Court will complete the program on 1/27.)

· 98 employed at time of graduation, 1 fulltime student

· 49 earned driver’s license while in the program (Other participants had licenses already.)

· All graduates who qualified were current on child support payments when they graduated.

· All had been clean and sober for at least one year, a requirement for graduation.

· All completed a community service project of at least 50 hours

· 22/99 graduates re-offended

· Treatment court recidivism rate is lower than for individuals who don’t participate in treatment court

Kautzman explained, “With the state of Minnesota, we are one Treatment Court with two separate tracks, a Drug Court track and a Veterans Treatment Court track. We keep our data separate for each.”

 Veterans Treatment Court data:

· 2 currently enrolled

· 6 participants unsuccessful and terminated

· 7 graduates

· 0 have reoffended

Commission chair Kevin Campbell commended the program graduates’ success rate of close to 80% as he voiced his support for the 2021-2022 budget plan. He said, “It’s worth every nickel that we’re investing in it.”

Citing his prior life experience working in law enforcement, Commissioner David Ebinger said, “We can’t get everybody a job. We can’t equalize income. We can’t fix all the things that contribute to the problems we’ve got, but one of the things we can do is help people to deal with their addictions. That’s basic in helping people get out of the cycle that puts them in our jails and in our prisons.”