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COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS FUNDING <br />Position: <br />Washington County supports increasing state funding for supervision of offenders in the community <br />each year of the biennium at a rate equal to or greater than the cost of inflation. <br />Issue: <br />The burden for funding Community Corrections continues to shift towards counties due to the lack of <br />additional state funding. This shift has occurred while at the same time saving the state money by <br />keeping prison use low. <br />Washington County has participated in the Community Corrections Act since 1978. State funding for <br />Community Corrections came from a belief in the effectiveness of local services, and the opportunity for <br />the State to save money on prison beds. By encouraging counties to develop alternatives the hope was <br />that more offenders would be sentenced to local alternatives and not sent to prison. That is why the <br />Community Corrections Act Subsidy exists for counties. <br />Eighty five percent of probation services in Minnesota are delivered at the county level. Year after year <br />Governors' budgets fail to include adequate funding for probation to counties. We are grateful for the <br />modest increase in funding for state fiscal year 2016; however, no new money was included for state <br />fiscal 2017. This left Washington County to pick-up 100 percent of the new costs for 2017. According to <br />Minnesota Management and Budget's February 2016 forecast, inflation is estimated to be 2.7 percent in <br />2018 and 2019. <br />Support and Opposition: <br />The Minnesota Association of Community Corrections Act Counties (MACCAC), the Minnesota Inter - <br />County Association (MICA), and the Association of Minnesota Counties (AMC) all support increased <br />funding for community supervision. The Minnesota Department of Corrections has demonstrated <br />limited support for funding Community Corrections. <br />Previous Consideration: <br />As has often been the case, the Governor failed to ask the Legislature for any increased funding for <br />county community corrections services in his proposed budget for state fiscal 2017. <br />No Action: <br />Counties will continue to assume a larger financial responsibility for funding community corrections <br />from the levy. <br />Contact Person: <br />Tom Adkins, Director <br />Community Corrections <br />651-430-6902 <br />Tom.Adkins@co.washington.mn.us <br />10 <br />