1. Washington County Attorney
2020 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 Legal Assistant (New 1.0 FTE)
Senior Law Clerk (0.5 FTE) 2

4. Full Time Equivalent (FTE)
Total F.T.E. = 53

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. Criminal Division
The Criminal Division is led by newly promoted Division Chief Siv Yurichuk who has over 14 years of criminal justice experience. In addition, Imran Ali, who also has over 14 years of criminal justice experience, has been promoted to Assistant Division Chief. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

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 2018 our office had conducted over 200 hours of training to over 7,000 attendees. Types of training include crime prevention for citizens, sex trafficking identification and response, the opioid crisis and data practices law.
The goal of this continued outreach through 2019 and into 2020 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 2018, the number of complaints issued by our office and referrals received by our office were very close to the previous year. We anticipate this to be the trend going into 2020.
Although the increase in the amount of referrals has slowed –the difficulty and sophistication of the cases coming in has not. An example would be identity theft cases, which affect upwards of 300 – 400 victims per case, as well as a growing number of complex and sophisticated racketeering cases.

14. Law Clerk Program
The law clerk work study program provides work opportunities and practical learning experience to law students to enhance their academic preparation and professional development. In exchange, the students provide invaluable legal support on the jail and misdemeanor court calendars every day of the week. Under the general supervision of an assistant county attorney who acts as their supervising attorney, our 6 current criminal division law clerks appear on behalf of the office in court on average of 40 court calendars consisting upwards of 300 cases per month lasting 2 – 3 hours per calendar to include jail calendars, arraignment calendars and misdemeanor jury trial calendar, pre-trial calendar and omnibus calendar. In addition to the calendar coverage, law clerks handle the misdemeanor case files including disclosures, investigation follow-up requests, plea negotiations, communications with attorneys and pro-se defendants, handle contested omnibus hearings, trial preparation and trials. They also draft petitions, briefs, memos, stipulations, court orders, judgments, finding of fact, warrants and various other legal documents and conduct legal research and writing assignments for Attorneys in the office on various legal issues.

15. Current Law Clerk Students

16. Legal Assistants
In 2018 our office processed almost 1300 complaints and 339 citations in the Criminal division alone. Each of these cases has passed through the hands of a legal assistant. Once an attorney has made a charging decision on a case, legal assistants work to ensure that that case is submitted to eCharging, a file is created and follow up documents are eFiled to the court. Legal Assistants continue to work on the file requesting discovery, disclosing discovery to defense and conducting any other administrative items that need to be done. The County Attorney's Office has seen a continued increase in the amount of digital evidence available for cases in the form of body cam videos, squad videos and recorded statements to name a few. Legal assistants in our office have had to learn how to work multiple video and surveillance programs as well as the process needed to prepare such files for disclosure, transcription and trial preparation. Legal Assistants have also had to learn how to utilize new law enforcement case management systems to pull supplemental reports and summaries manually once they are available.

17. East Metro Sex Trafficking Task Force Highlights
The East Metro Human Trafficking Task Force has become nationally renowned.
As a result, they are engaged in hosting training for those agencies just beginning enforcement activity on juvenile sex trafficking.
They have hosted agencies from the state, the nation, and numerous foreign countries that have sought this unit’s expertise.
This training occurs while the unit, consisting of a prosecutor, an analyst, and four sworn police personnel, continues its aggressive, victim-centered investigation and prosecution of those involved in the trafficking of juveniles.

18. Juvenile Division

19. Trends in Juvenile
The increased focus on the child protection system over the last few years has not only increased the number of case filings but has also stressed specific areas of importance in that system. Areas such as relative placement, culturally appropriate services/placements, and strict compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act have been emphasized in the system. Juvenile Division staff continue to put in time to refine our procedures to ensure compliance in all of these areas.
Going into 2020 and over the course of the last few years we have become aware of the significant increase in the use of vaping devices. The most concerning aspect of this increase is that teens are using tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in these devices more than we have seen before. The THC cartridges used in vaping devices can be very potent and could cause serious health issues. Partner agencies - Community Services, Community Corrections and Youth Services Bureau - have been encouraged to develop programming to help reduce the abuse of vaping devices.
Near the end of 2018, the County Attorney’s Office implemented a policy for the prosecution of cases involving threats to students, schools, or school personnel.  That policy gives priority to the charging and decision making involved in those cases. The policy also emphasizes coordination with schools, law enforcement, and other partners in the juvenile justice system to assure that these cases are handled in an efficient and effective manner to support school and community safety.  The policy was finalized only after getting feedback from law enforcement officers who work in the schools and feedback from all superintendents in Washington County.  Pete Orput and Tony Zdroik presented the policy to school administrators, counselors, and law enforcement officers at the Minnesota Juvenile Officer’s Association annual training in Duluth in January of 2019. 

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

21. Truancy
There was an increase in the number of truancy petitions filed in In addition to the increase in numbers, the complexity of those cases has also increase as many children and families struggle with significant mental health and chemical health issues. It is anticipated that this will be the case continuing into 2020.

22. Civil Division

23. Trends in Civil
The civil division’s aspiration in 2020 is to continue to guide the county and its various departments through manifold legal issues by maintaining a proactive, as opposed to a reactive, posture. The year 2020 may necessitate more reactive response than proactive counsel. From our experiences in 2018, which continue a pace in 2019, the following is a sampling of expectations:
Beginning in 2019, and continuing for three years, the civil division will be providing principle counsel to the Recycling and Energy Board. This is essentially taking on another department.
It is undeniable that the county is growing, and that this growth begets a need for transportation. While Public Works is tasked with the “heavy lifting,” the civil division is charged with ensuring that the contracts with contractors, municipalities, state, consultants, etc. are proper. These projects also require the appropriation of land, be it through purchase or condemnation, with the attending legal work emanating there from.
County growth also increases the county’s regulatory responsibilities which spring not only from population growth but also from the swelling of regulatory mandates. This tasks the civil division in aiding the departments in ordinance interpretation and drafting and representation of the departments in regulatory disputes.
With the advent of “big-box” stores’ tax appeals across the metro, the division has seen a decided increase in time spent with tax appeals. The trend is expected to increase in 2019 and 2020, especially given recent court decisions.
Another trend the division has observed is the upsurge in administrative appeals due to an increase in taking action against unlicensed daycare cases; a trend we expect to continue into 2020.

24. Community Outreach Through Training and Educating

25. 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
East Metro Human Trafficking Taskforce
Opioid Response Planning

26. 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.

27. African American Male Mentorship Program
The County Attorney’s Office hosted a visit from over 50 students from area high schools participating in the African American Male Mentorship Program. 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.

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

29. 2020 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.