Sheriff John DeGeorge explained his request to manage the Sentence to Serve (STS) Program internally at the county board’s March 4 meeting.
The state of Minnesota is ending the STS Program as of June 2025. The Institution Community Work Crews (ICWC) program pays counties like Fillmore County to house low risk inmates. This program appears to be continuing. The ICWC allows for inmates to be incarcerated at a minimum security facility to work for a community under supervision of a crew leader.
DeGeorge said ending the STS program is frustrating for them. It was a successful diversion program allowing inmates to learn skills while benefiting the community. There are 20 STS crews across the state.
The current crew leader will be on medical leave for weeks. DeGeorge suggested that “we run the program ourselves. I am confident we can run our own program. During the crew leader’s medical leave, we can get some experience running the program at least on a temporary basis. The county houses two state inmates at this time. The STS has been a good program and when we do it ourselves on a temporary basis, we can see how it will be for us to run our own program on a permanent basis.”
Chairman Marc Prestby suggested this will be a good pilot project. Commissioner Duane Bakke added he fully supports running the program locally.
Approval was given to manage the STS Program internally, based on MCIT insurance coverage.
Other Business in Brief
•The telecommute program is reviewed annually. Director of nursing, Jessica Erickson and social services manager, Wanda Berg presented a review of the telecommute worker program. Erickson said there are two telecommute workers in the long-term care division. They are required to come into the office once per week and also produce additional 25% case points. Both have met and/or exceeded the increased workload. She added she has no concerns about the work they do.
Berg reported there are five telecommute workers in her department; one in income maintenance (applications and renewals), three in long term care, and one in insurance (MnCare and Medicaid). They work in teams. They are tracked by the number of documents that are cleared. They all process a huge number of documents. County Administrator Bobbie Hillery said the team is doing a good job overall.
•Nine bids were submitted for the CSAH 8 project (Tracy Rd.) in Spring Valley. The low bid submitted by Snow Contracting in the amount of $2,554,605.30 was accepted concurrent with Spring Valley accepting. The engineer’s estimate for the project was $3,024,328.75.
•The final payment in the amount of $55,106.14 was approved to Astech Corporation for the micro surfacing project (CSAH 18,21,23, and CR 115). The total value of the work was $1,102,122.88.
•One bid was submitted in the amount of $467,696 for the LOST project on CR 116 in Granger. The bid submitted by Rochester Sand & Gravel was accepted. The engineer’s estimate was $468,823.95. County engineer Ron Gregg will check with Bristol Township about a township road nearby.
•The purchase of three 2025 Mack Granite 64 FR tandem plow truck chassis was discussed. Gregg explained they can get 2025 pricing if the order is submitted in the next couple of weeks. The plow truck chassis would not be delivered or paid for until 2026 and the plow equipment would be paid for in 2027. Commissioners wanted to discuss it more and look at budgeting for the next couple of years during the next Highway committee meeting before ordering. The issue was whether to order two or three plow truck chassis. The request will be brought back with a list of needed equipment in the next couple of years after the Highway committee meeting.
•Alyzabeth Carr was hired as a part-time jailer, effective March 14.
•Sheriff’s Deputy Scott Keigley was promoted to Patrol Sergeant, effective March 14.
•Fillmore County Jail paybook #24 in the total amount of $277,306.35 was approved. The move of inmates to the new jail building has been moved back to May. The delay in the timeline is the result of having to wait for the technology hook-up.
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