The Sentence-to-Serve program has been saved by the county board. On Tuesday, April 20, 2010, commissioners voted to spend just under an additional $19,000 to keep the program in full swing. This represents a county share of almost $57,000, or 75% of the cost. Because of cuts to the Minnesota Department of Corrections budget, the state will now be covering only 25% of the cost of the program instead of half.
“I see it as a valuable program,” Commissioner Fritz Sobanja said. The Sentence-to-Serve crew, under the direction of Crew Leader Gary Jorgenson, provides labor for many projects beside state highways, in state parks, at county facilities, and on behalf of local schools, townships, and nonprofits.
Jorgenson offered to reduce the percentage of projects the crew does for the state since the county will be providing the majority of the funding, but whatever they do for the state, such as cleaning up along the highway or maintaining wayside rests, also benefits the county, he said.
A provision under the legislation that called for a reduction in state funding allows counties to assess a fee to entities, including the state, that receive a direct benefit from work performed by Sentence-to-Serve crews. It even allows counties to assess a fee to offenders who are participating in the program, but a lot of offenders don’t even have the money to pay their court fines, Jorgenson said.
Jorgenson values the work his crews do at $10-12 an hour and tries to balance the projects among state, county, city, and nonprofit entities.
The board passed a motion to contract with the state at the new funding level. According to Auditor-Treasurer Braidy Powers, the extra 25% the county needs to fund could be taken out of its timber funds, which are generated from the sale of tax-forfeited land and used for projects relating to the health and management of the forest.
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