County spends to evaluate justice program

The Carlton County Board of Commissioners approved $20,000 for an evaluation of the Restorative Justice program, currently used as a tool for some offenders under the jurisdiction of the local District Court system.

This is one of several steps the County Board is taking to see which county services should be funded and which should not.

The Restorative Justice program is not mandated or funded by the state of Minnesota. The local program was started in 2008.

Simply put, the Restorative Justice program helps an offender own what the person did, make it right for those hurt or affected, and involve the community to help both the offender and the victim.

“You have to remember that the program is for the victim as well as the offender,” county coordinator Dennis Genereau said. “With this long-term view, the program helps keep offenders from continuing to get in trouble and get caught in a revolving door of crime.”

Genereau reflected on the first case put through the local program. A group of intoxicated boys ransacked a home while the homeowners were there, terrorized. The victims said they would never feel safe in their home again.

After the group process of the Restorative Justice was completed, those same boys were invited into the same home for a holiday dinner the next year.

Genereau pointed out how the scars of the offenders and the victims healed through the program and was a win, win.

Getting the word out

Sheriff Kelly Lake received an additional $5,000 to be used for another round of informational mailings related to funding for the $66 million Justice Center.

The Nov. 8 election day referendum asks voters if Carlton County should be authorized to pay for construction costs through a county-wide half-percent local option sales tax? A no vote means the majority of costs would be financed through the property tax.

The latest mailing will go out before early voting starts Sept. 23.

The citizen’s committee for the informational campaign felt there was too far a gap between the start of early voting and the Nov. 8 General Election. The other mailing will come out just before the general election and contain the same information as the first mailing.

In other County news

• County engineer JinYeene Neumann received permission to enter into a contract with Brian Lind in Red Clover Township, Section 18, for gravel removal. The contract runs until 2028 and starts at a payment of $3 yard, but the sum will be renegotiated in December 2023. Finding gravel deposits for county use in western Carlton County has been a challenge, Neumann said.

• Twin Lakes Township has been approved for a conditional use permit to build a town hall at 1692 Douglas Road. The building will be about 44 feet by 65 feet, and plans are to build a garage later. Currently, Twin Lakes and Atkinson townships use the county’s Transportation Building meeting room for their election site. The room’s folding partition wall provides a barrier to separate each polling site.