Criminal Justice

TAYLOR COUNTY CRIMINAL JUSTICE COORDINATING COUNCIL November 10, 2023 Meeting began at 8:35 AM Attendance: Honorable Ann Knox -Bauer, Clerk Jill Scheithauer, District Attorney Kristi Tlusty, Treatment Court Coordinator Wendy Ness, Suzanne Stanfley and Julie Clarkson of Taylor County Human Services, LeeAnn Raab of DOC, and Courtney Scholl and Shanna Kestler of Stepping Stones present. Minutes posted on the Taylor County website. Treatment Court Update - Wendy Ness updated the council with the following: • There are currently nine active participants in the program, all doing relatively well; • Trying to create a process to be able to serve Taylor County residents who were convicted in another county; • Given approval to use funds to expand alumni activities (cooking lessons, yoga classes, etc.). Stepping Stones – Situation with Court -Appointed Mediator – Courtney Scholl and Shanna Kestler were present to discuss a situation Courtney experienced while advocating for a client during a mediation session. Discussion held about better communication with the mediator prior to sessions in cases in which there is domestic/sexual violence history between those in mediation. DA Kristi Tlusty brought up with issues the court system is facing with growing need for interpretative services and the lack of interpreters. It is becoming more difficult and expensive to utilize interpreters such as SWITS. There were various names and agencies brought up to possibly contact. Ideally, a contract with someone with the county would be a goal in an effort to save on costs. Next meeting scheduled for January 5, 2024. Meeting adjourned at 9:20 AM Submitted by Jill Scheithauer Taylor County Clerk of Court TAYLOR COUNTY CRIMINAL JUSTICE COORDINATING COUNCIL July 28, 2023 Meeting began at 8:35 AM Attendance: Honorable Ann Knox -Bauer, Jill Scheithauer, Courtney Graff, Corey Dassow, Wendy Ness, Julie Clarkson, Lisa Kauffman, and Suzanne Stanfley. Minutes posted on the Taylor County website. Treatment Court Update - Wendy Ness updated the council with the following: • There are currently 9 participants in the program (8 active), 2 more are on the list awaiting sentencing, several other individuals have been through the intake process; • Work has started on next year’s grant; • Still looking for additional funding options; • Looking into a program to assist people who are in revoked status and cannot afford their AODA and other responsibilities to make them eligible for reinstatement. National Institute of Corrections Offering Free Technical Assistance for CJCCs - Part of the eligibility to qualify for the treatment court grant is that we have a CJCC, which must meet the standards. Wendy asked if our CJCC has a mission statement and bylaws. The mission statement became a Taylor County resolution. Further searching n eeds to be done to confirm if bylaws were ever completed. This National Institute of Corrections offers assistance for free to assist in bringing CJCCs up to standards. Discussion About Family Court Temporary Orders and Active CHIPS/Juvenile Cases - Julie Clarkson brought to the council an issue that is occurring when a parents in a CHIPS/JIPS case attempts to file for a change of placement and are scheduled for a hearing in front of CC Bonnie Wachsmuth that no changes are made in the family court case because of the CHI PS/JIPS case taking precedence and asking how this can be changed to allow these pro se parents to be able to file for a change of placement and get them out of the CHIPS/JIPS case. Judge Knox-Bauer suggested that the Clerk’s office schedule these types of hearings in front of her instead of the court commissioner. Courtney is to put together a pro se packet for TCHS/Clerk’s office to utilize in these types of situations so these cases get scheduled accordingly and start to proceed easier for the petitioner. Next meeting scheduled for October 20, 2023. Meeting adjourned at 9:05 AM Submitted by Jill Scheithauer Taylor County Clerk of Court TAYLOR COUNTY CRIMINAL JUSTICE COORDINATING COUNCIL April 7, 2023 Meeting began at 7:35 AM Attendance: Honorable Ann Knox -Bauer, Jill Scheithauer, Ruth Ann Koch, Kristi Tlusty, Wendy Ness, Jasmin Skerven, Jessica Fehrenbach, Lisa Kauffman, Suzanne Stanfley, and LeeAnn Raab Minutes are posted on the Taylor County website. Treatment Court Update Wendy Ness updated the council that the treatment court was not approved for the grant funds offered by the Fulc rum Foundation. She is continuing to look for other funding sources. Currently there are seven people in the program, one coming in, one referral and one recent graduate. Warrant Fees Kristi Tlusty is looking to start charging a warrant execution fee ($50.00). Currently, a fee of $12.00 may be charged, however, Wis. Stat. §814.70(2) allows the county board to pass an ordinance to establish a higher fee in which the funds would go to the Sheriff’s Department budget. Introduction Jasmin Skerven was promoted to Clinical Coordinator at Taylor County Human Services. Chapter 51 Blood Draw Ruth Ann Koch brought up an issue as to what to do if an individual is not legally detained but refuses a test to be medically cleared. Discussion was held on how to proceed if this type of situation were to ever happen again. Next meeting scheduled for July 21, 2023. Meeting adjourned at 9:05 AM Submitted by Jill Scheithauer Taylor County Clerk of Court TAYLOR COUNTY CRIMINAL JUSTICE COORDINATING COUNCIL January 6, 2023 Meeting began at 8:40 AM Attendance: Honorable Ann Knox -Bauer, Jill Scheithauer, Courtney Graff, Kristi Tlusty, Wendy Ness, Julie Clarkson, Monelle Johnson, Lisa Kauffman, Megan Kestler, and LeeAnn Raab Minutes are posted on the Taylor County website. Treatment Court Update Wendy Ness updated the council about a $9,000 grant the treatment court received from the Aspirus Community Memorial Fund for fiscal year 2022. She intends to ask for further funding for fiscal year 2023. In addition to the ACMF funding, she has applied for a grant through the Fulcrum Foundation. If granted, it will allow the treatment court to bring in 8 new participants for a “Re-Entry Group” for people being released from prison or a long-term jail sentence to help them back into society. The program will work closely with the Department of Corrections and will run similarly to treatment court in that the participants will be tested. The program’s intent is to help people with finding living arrangements, employment, etc. It is incentive-driven (i.e., negative UA’s could result in an incentive such as help toward rent). She should know more by March 2023. Other Business Jill Scheithauer was introduced as the new Clerk of Circuit Court and Megan Kestler was introduced as a new probation agent with Department of Corrections. There will be a retirement reception for DOC’s Elaine Mather to be held on January 31, 2023. The District Attorney’s office has hired Megan Kozey as its new legal assistant. DA Kristi Tlusty advised she spoke with Jessica Fehrenbach of the SPD’s office. They have hired an attorney to replace Nick Smith. Julie Clarkson also advised the council that she, too, has applied for funds within the Fulcrum Foundation to be used for a Delinquency Prevention & Intervention Program. She will also know by March is funding is awarded. The funds would be utilized to provide events for kids who do not normally participant in sports or other academia-type events; it will provide funding to kids who want to participant but cannot afford the entry fees (karate, club volleyball, etc.). Julie also indicated they are still waiting to hear from the State on the GAL funding. Julie also indicated the juvenile mental health cases are on the rise with kids their agency usually do not see. TCHS has offered a position to a mental health counselor. Next meeting scheduled for April 7, 2023. Meeting adjourned at 9:15 AM Submitted by Jill Scheithauer Taylor County Clerk of Court