County To Create New Drug Diversion PositionIssue Date: April 7, 2022 At the urging of District Attorney DeShea Morrow and others in the criminal justice system, Marinette County will soon have a new weapon in its crime prevention arsenal. At its meeting on Tuesday, April 5, Marinette County Board's Public Services Committee approved spending $45,000 to create a Diversion Program Coordinator position, a proposal that has been discussed since the Treatment Drug Court was started in 2014.
Both the highly successful Drug Court and the Diversion program should help cut costs for the county by converting offenders into contributing members of the community and reducing the number of return visits to the jail.
Morrow explained in a detailed written report to the committee, and in response to questions at the committee meeting, that the Treatment Drug Court was created to help prevent repeat offenses by high-risk, high need persons who had been convicted of felony offenses.
Morrow said over the years there was some criticism that the county had this program for high risk individuals who would otherwise face prison time, but did little to prevent low risk, high need offenders from continuing on a dangerous path.
Morrow said the offenders who will be helped by the new diversion program are those who are considered low-risk due to their lack of criminal history. They generally are people charged with possession of controlled substances. In 2018 there were 116 of these types of charges, and by 2021 that number had grown to 221, nearly a 50 percent increase. The increase in charges resulted in an increase of attorney time in her office, from 2,164 in 2018 to 3,268 in 2021.
The county would also benefit by having a lower jail population, and individuals given a chance to self-correct would not need to go through the regular court process.
Supervisor Ken Keller, who chairs the Public Services Committee, praised Morrow for preparing the very clear and thorough report to back her request for the new position and the program that will be started.
Morrow said the program will allow her office the ability to offer deferred prosecution agreement to appropriate offenders, "and hopefully give them the tools to self correct. This would save time and resources, as they would not have to go through the regular court process and would not take up bed space in the Marinette County Jail."
At the meeting she pointed out that a felony conviction will dramatically affect the outcome of everyone's life, and if those faced with the less serious felony offenses go through the diversion program successfully the charges will not be on their records, due to a deferred judgement agreement in which the court accepts their plea but withholds a finding of guilty. If the the defendant violates terms of agreement, there is a judgment of guilt, and if they successfully complete the program (possibly over a 2-year period) the charges are dismissed.
Morrow said the Victim Witness Coordinator in her office will work with the Diversion Coordinator on the diversion program.
Sheriff Jerry Sauve said many of the people this program would serve are lower level chronic offenders who use a lot of time for his office. He has been involved in requests for this type of program over the years, and declared, "This has been a long time coming."
County Administrator John LeFebvre said the $45,000 will cover about seven months of the program in 2022, because it will take about two months to get someone hired and on the job. Starting next year, the program will be funded through the regular county budget. For this year the money for the position and related expenses will come from the Contingency Fund, which requires approval from the Administrative Committee.
Keller commented it could actually save the county money in other ways, and Morrow agreed, "...this is a best use of county resources."
Committee vote to approve the program and send the funding request on for committee and County Board approval was unanimous.
Supervisor Gail Wanek thanked Morrow for all the work she had done on her report.
In other business at the meeting, Sauve announced that Sgt. Joe Moser, who had been jail program sergeant for some years, has been chosen to fill the new Assistant Jail Administrator Position. Deputy Brandon Erdman will be the new detective, filling the position held by Detective Todd Baldwin, who is retiring effective Wednesday, April 6.
Sauve said they continue to have problems retaining jail staff. Another person had resigned on Monday, April 4, and they again have four jailer posiitons open, he said, "and we're doing the best we can to fill the shifts."
Sauve said this has been an "interesting" month for his department, and added, "There have been a number of bigger, scarier things happening."
One of those things was a man who, early one morning, showed up at Witt's Piggly Wiggly in Crivitz and began smashing front windows with a sledge hammer. He made some remarks about needing bakery, and helped himself, and took cigarettes and left. He was stoped and arrested in Oconto County after a high speed chase. Sauve added this was one of two recent high speed chases in recent days, and fortunately both ended with no one injured.
Medical Examiner Kalynn Van Ermen reported the suicide rate continues to increase, particularly among young people. Thee were three suicides in March, two in February, and none in January. The suicides in March were people aged 17, 20 and 31. Two of them were in Marinette and one in the Crivitz/Wausaukee area. Van Ermin said her office has been busy, with 61 investigations so far this year.
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