1. Washington County Attorney
2019 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 Conversion of SPPJ Attorney II (1.0 FTE) 6 6 5 4
Victim Witness Coordinator (New 1.0 FTE)
Conversion of SPPJ Legal Assistant (1.0 FTE) 7

4. Full Time Equivalent (FTE)
Total F.T.E. = 51.0

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 30 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 43 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 20 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. At the end of 2017 our office had conducted over 330 hours of training to over 7,400 attendees.
The goal of this continued outreach through 2018 and into 2019 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 2017, the number of complaints issued by our office had increased yet again. Since January 2018 we’ve issued over 770 complaints. We foresee this to continue to increase going into 2019.
We’ve seen the number of citations climb above 200 for We have already exceeded last year’s total with 213 citations so far this year.

14. Serving Victims of Crime
Our Victim Witness Coordinators serve as liaisons between the criminal justice system, the County Attorney’s Office adult and juvenile prosecution teams and victims and witnesses. They provide victims and witnesses with information about court proceedings, help prepare them for court, attend court proceedings, and direct victims to available resources and referrals for therapy, healing and costs associated with victimization. In 2017 our staff of four coordinators provided support and assistance to over 1800 victims. On average, each coordinator usually has anywhere from 250 to 350 open cases assigned to them.

15. East Metro Sex Trafficking Task Force Highlights
Creation of East Metro Sex Trafficking Task Force;
Assisted BCA and Minneapolis Police in Super Bowl 52;
Creation and Implementation of Juvenile Commercial Sex and Exploitation Multi-Disciplinary Team;
Successful prosecutions of large, organized criminal conspiracy groups centered around targeting several thousand victims all over the country
Continued training and outreach in Washington County

16. Sex Trafficking Training
In 2017 our office provided approximately 49 different trainings to over 2000 Washington County students, seniors, residents, staff and community partners.
In the first two quarters of 2018 our office has provided approximately 15 different trainings to over 800 Washington County students, seniors, residents, staff and community partners.

17. Sex Trafficking Prosecutions – Washington County Attorney’s Office (2015-2018)
– Solicit/Induce/Promote Prostitution
– Prostitution – Other Prohibited Acts
– Solicitation - Children to Engage in Sexual Conduct
* Current Year To Date

18. Juvenile Division

19. Trends in Juvenile Crime
Increase in number and complexity of child protection cases handled in 2017 confirmed that the huge increase we’ve observed in the last few years is our “new normal.”
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.
Training was provided to approximately 900 individuals by juvenile attorney staff in 2017 to include students, parents, law enforcement, social workers, school officials and other prosecutors. This trend is expected to continue through 2018 and into 2019 as a means to keep community partners and citizens current with needed knowledge and awareness.

20. Child Protection Cases
In 2017 we had an 89% increase in CHIPS (child in need of protection or services) petition referrals (68 referrals) compared to the average number received from 2011 – 2015 (36 referrals).
The number of Termination of Parental Rights petitions also significantly increased in We filed 17 petitions in 2017 compared to our average of 9 petitions filed during 2011 – 2015.
Why is the increase in numbers significant going into 2019? Because these types of cases often continue for years requiring a great amount of attorney and support staff time.

21. Truancy Attendance Intervention Meetings (AIM)
Pre-Court Diversion Efforts
Anti-Bullying
Partnerships with School Administrators and School Resource Officers

22. Truancy
The number of petitions filed per year are holding steady at around 29, even with a marked increase in referrals for the AIM (Attendance Intervention Meeting) meetings, which is the first stage of county intervention.

23. Civil Division

24. Trends in Civil
With growth comes the need for transportation, and Public Works is doing well addressing the imperative. It is embarking on a number of propitious projects which run the gamut from upgrading roadways to planning transit-ways. Although Public Works is tasked with the “heavy lifting”, these projects give birth to manifold legal work. There are agreements with contractors to be reviewed and edited; cooperative agreements with cities and towns to shepherd and joint powers agreements to occasion. In addition, there is land to appropriate either through purchase or condemnation.
Another manifestation of growth is the waxing of the county’s regulatory responsibilities brought about not only through growth in populations but also by the swelling number of mandates foisted upon the county by the state. This has necessitated and will continue to oblige the county to continuously update old and enact new ordinances to meet its regulatory warrant. The civil division is in close collaboration with a number of departments in guiding it through the legal miasma of ordinance drafting, which attends the more familiar technical aspects of the ordinance process.

25. Community Outreach Through Training and Educating

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

27. 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

28. 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.

29. African American Male Mentorship Program
The County Attorney’s Office hosted a visit from over 75 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.

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

31. 2019 Initiatives Continue to educate regarding human trafficking
Continue to work on keeping kids safe
Continued enhancement of our office technology
Closely monitoring our drug diversion program to address the ongoing Opioid and Methamphetamine crises.