1. Washington County Attorney
2018 Proposed Budget
Pete Orput
Washington County Attorney

2. Mission Statement Vision Statement
We promote justice and public safety through vigorously prosecuting crime, protecting those in need and providing quality legal representation for Washington County.
Vision Statement
Our vision is to make Washington County a safe and just place to live and work.

3. Organizational Chart 6 Conversion of SPPJ Attorney II
Attorney I (New 1.0 FTE)
Conversion of SPPJ Legal Assistant (1.0 FTE)
Conversion of Grant Legal Assistant (1.0 FTE)

4. Full Time Equivalent (FTE)
Total F.T.E. = 50.0

5. Administrative Division
The Administrative Division, under the leadership of the County Attorney, supports the public safety mission of the office by providing a full range of support services including community outreach, law enforcement support, media relations, grant and program oversight, and special projects. The administrative staff must be resilient and respond to emergent needs in a quick and flexible manner to enable all employees to perform at the highest levels possible.  

6. Civil Division
The Civil Division is headed by George Kuprian, who has worked in the division for over 29 years. The Civil Division provides legal representation, advice and direction to the County Board and other county departments. The Civil Division’s duties include review of contracts, civil commitments, guardianships, conservatorships, child support enforcement, paternity, regulatory enforcement, condemnations, land use, administrative appeals, forfeitures, real estate tax appeals and the rendering of opinions. In addition the Civil Division represents the County in lawsuits.

7. Criminal Division
The Criminal Division is led by Division Chief Fred Fink who has over 42 years of prosecution experience. The division is responsible for the prosecution of all felonies committed in the County as well as misdemeanors in designated municipalities. The division also consists of the victim witness unit whose goal is to provide victims and witnesses of crime supportive services and an understanding of the criminal justice system.

8. Juvenile Division
The Juvenile Division is led by Division Chief Tony Zdroik who has over 19 years of prosecution experience. The division is responsible for prosecuting all juvenile criminal cases in Washington County. In the most serious cases, the division will move to certify juveniles who commit violent crimes to adult court if warranted. The division also provides legal representation to Community Services on child protection matters. Those cases involve children in Washington County who have been abused or neglected by their parents or legal guardian.

9. Revenue

10. Expenditures

11. Criminal Division

12. Preventing Crimes
Our Office continues to provide extensive police training and community education/outreach resulting in better trained law enforcement and a better informed community.
The goal of this continued outreach is to help Washington County students, seniors, residents, staff and community partners such as law enforcement, attorneys, educators and professional state organizations stay informed and plan for the future.

13. Trends in Adult Crime
At the end of 2016, our referral numbers increased dramatically from 1529 referrals in 2014 to 2010 referrals. We foresee this to continue an increase into 2018.
Currently we have more than 1300 referrals with almost 5 months left in 2017.
With the increase in referrals also comes the increase in complaints as well as citations. We’ve seen complaints go from 834 to 1086 and citations from 101 to 190.

14. Major Prosecution Unit
The Major Prosecution Unit was created to address issues like insurance fraud, organized retail crime, and human sex trafficking. Since the beginning of 2016 the intelligence and data gathering by the MPU has garnered a staggering 15,000 + online solicitations for sex alone. MPU has created a program to help identify and track down potential victims of sex trafficking and reviews closed and pending cases involving at-risk juveniles
The MPU has also developed training materials and provides training for law enforcement, hotel staff and community advocates on how to recognize sex trafficking activities and potential victims

15. Sex Trafficking
In 2016 our office provided approximately 38 different trainings to over 1500 Washington County students, seniors, residents, staff and community partners.
In the first two quarters of 2017 our office has provided approximately 20 different trainings to over 900 Washington County students, seniors, residents, staff and community partners.

16. Criminal Division

17. Washington County Approach
Disrupt the market and demand that exists for sex trafficking
Proactively identity victims of trafficking and refer services
Proactively identify traffickers and arrest/prosecute for sex trafficking
Organize and train law enforcement in a victim centered approach
Organize and create awareness in the community

18. Sex Trafficking Initiative—Disrupting the “Ecosystem”
“Proactive Enforcement Recovery Model”
Partner: Washington County Law Enforcement Trafficking Unit
Prosecution: 19 charged with sex trafficking in Washington County
23 victims recovered in Washington County
3 Tiered Hotel Training and Curriculum Development
Partner: Washington County Public Health
Phase 1: Hotel Owners—Completed
Phase 2: Hotel Management—Completed
Phase 3: Hotel Employees—September/October
Multi-Disciplinary Child Sexual Exploitation Team
Partners: Law Enforcement, Social Services, Community Corrections, Chemical Dependency, Mental Health, & Direct Service Providers
Case review for sexually exploited youth (prevention and intervention)

19. Washington County Sex Trafficking Prosecutions

20. Case Highlights State of MN v. DiMartino- Sex Trafficking Minor
State of MN v. Carlisle- Sex Trafficking Minor
State of MN v. Brian Kersten- Sex Trafficking Adult
State of MN v. Tyree Jones- Sex Trafficking Ad
State of MN. Adam Kriempelbein- Sex Trafficking Adult
State v. Cheyenne Foster- Crim. Sex of Minor

21. Who wants to buy our kids?

22. Case Highlights—Proactive stings directed to disrupt market
State of MN v. Langner- 3 prior rape convictions
State of MN v. Moose- exploitation and production of child porn
State of MN v. Perkins- 2 pending rape/child porn cases
24 other felony cases charged with Solicitation of a Minor to Commit Prostitution in

23. Training and Awareness
Facilitate Quarterly Sex Trafficking task force meetings
161 hours of training provided to
Law Enforcement
Hotels
Church groups
Rotary clubs
Public Health
Community Services
Correctional Officers
Mutli-housing units

24. Our good work being recognized
Featured on front page of Wall Street Journal- July 11, 2016
Attorney of the Year 2016: Imran Ali for work in Sex Trafficking
Analyst of the Year 2016: Aimee Schroeder for work in Sex Trafficking

25. Creating Partnerships

26. Juvenile Division

27. Trends in Juvenile Crime
Increase in number and complexity of child protection cases mainly due to recent legislation that has provided more resources for counties to hire more social workers as well as legislation that now requires consultation with County Attorney’s office on high-risk cases and predatory offender cases.
Working with Community Services to further educate those involved in the juvenile court system about what the latest research shows about the effects of trauma on children.

28. Child Protection Cases
There has been a 40% increase in Children in need of Protective Services (CHIPS) cases from 2014 to 2015 and a 47% increase in CHIPS cases from 2015 to 2016.
There has been a 46% increase in the total number of Child Protection Cases from 2014 to 2015 and a 64% increase in the total number of Child Protection cases from 2015 to 2016.

29. Truancy Attendance Intervention Meetings (AIM) Anti-Bullying
Partnerships with School Administrators and School Resource Officers

30. Truancy Petitions

31. Truancy Diversion Contracts

32. Civil Division

33. Trends in Civil
With the total transformation from private to public ownership and operation of the Newport Resource Recovery Facility on January 1, 2018, its impact on the Civil Division will continue to be significant with a host of complex legal work, including Project Board representation, contracts review, and legal advice.
The number of administrative appeals continues to run apace with statutory changes driving the numbers up exponentially. The number of conservatorships also appears on the rise.
The county’s ambitious transportation plan has resulted in increasing requests from Public Works for legal services.  Under the leadership of the Board, many of the transportation projects taken up by Public Works involve joint enterprises with cities, towns and even watershed districts. There are bids to edit and stringent processes to oversee; contracts to edit or draft and review; and rights-of-way to obtain, usually through negotiation, but often through condemnation; and legal aspects of the project to oversee – e.g., letters to write, threatened lawsuits to parry.

34. Community Outreach Through Training and Educating

35. Internships Work Study Students Special Project Interns
Mentorship Interns
Law Clerk Training

36. County Partnerships Community Corrections Community Services
Veterans Program, Dosage Probation, Diversion
Community Services
Truancy, Children and Family Safety
Public Health and Environment
Environmental crime prosecution, hotel safety initiative
Accounting and Finance
Collection initiative
Human Resources
Legal advice and general counsel duties
Sheriff’s Office
East Metro Crime Coalition
Firearm Safety - Trigger Locks

37. Partnership with School Districts
As part of our partnership with school districts we provide ongoing training for school resource officers, school administrators, teachers and staff.

38. African American Male Mentorship Program
The County Attorney’s Office hosted a visit from over 40 students from area high schools participating in the African American Male Mentorship Program (twice as many than last year). The visit to our office was part of an instructional series that exposes African American males in high school to positive leaders in the community who emphasize the need for post-secondary education by introducing students to various employment options and the steps in achieving them.

39. Community Involvement
Spring into Service
County Fair
Night to Unite
Crime prevention classes
Law enforcement/prosecutor training

40. 2018 Initiatives Increase education regarding human trafficking
Continue to work on keeping kids safe
Continued enhancement of our office technology
Revamping our prosecution diversion program to address the Opioid and drug epidemic