Court Services

Organizational Structure

The agency is divided into 5 distinct teams providing supervision and programming to offenders on probation. Each team has a supervisor who oversees the staff and reports directly to the Director of Court Services. Each team provides supervision and programming for a distinct group of offenders:

  • The Adult Team supervises adult offenders convicted of a gross misdemeanor and misdemeanor level offenses as well as felony-level charges that are reduced to a gross misdemeanor or misdemeanor level.
  • The Juvenile Team supervises juveniles from 10 to 21 years old who are convicted of all levels of offenses.
  • The Pre-Trial Team supervises low and medium-risk adult offenders and pre-trial conditional release defendants, as well as provides educational and community service programs.
  • The Coaching & Development Team oversees internal staff development training, provides dispositional alternatives to the court by offering evidence-based educational opportunities for offenders, and develops additional support initiatives to enhance offenders' success.
  • The Support Team provides support services to all teams and the Director.

Reducing the Incidence & Impact of Crime

The fundamental mission of Wright County Court Services is to reduce the incidence and impact of crime in Wright County:

  • By promoting the public interest and safety through control of offenders' anti-social behavior and unlawful acts.
  • By providing rehabilitation and integration services directed at offering offenders opportunities to become law-abiding.
  • By focusing on the issue of crime in the community, including both the amount of crime and its consequences for victims, offenders, and the whole community.
  • By ensuring the delivery of a diverse range of services that contribute to the positive change of behavior leading to enriched productive living for individuals, families, and communities.

Foundational Beliefs

The mission statement reflects the following beliefs:

  • That society has a right to be protected from individuals who cause harm to others.
  • When public safety is not compromised, the interests of most offenders are best served through alternative, community-based sentences, and actually, the person should leave the criminal justice system in a positive manner, and as a more productive citizen than when she or he entered the criminal justice system.

Annual Reports

Read the annual reports published by the Court Services Department.

Statutory Authority

MS 244.19 Subdivision 3. Powers and Duties
All county probation officers serving a district court shall act under the orders of the court in reference to any person committed to their care by the court, and in the performance of their duties shall have the general powers of a peace officer; and it shall be their duty to make such investigations with regard to any person as may be required by the court before, during, or after the trial or hearing, and to furnish to the court such information and assistance as may be required; to take charge of any person before, during or after trial or hearing when so directed by the court, and to keep such records and to make such reports to the court as the court may order.

All county probation officers serving a district court shall, in addition, provide probation and parole services to wards of the commissioner of corrections resident in the counties they serve and shall act under the orders of said commissioner of corrections in reference to any ward committed to their care by the commissioner of corrections.

All probation officers serving a district court shall, under the direction of the authority having the power to appoint them, initiate programs for the welfare of persons coming within the jurisdiction of the court to prevent delinquency and crime and to rehabilitate within the community persons who come within the jurisdiction of the court and are properly subject to efforts to accomplish prevention and rehabilitation. They shall, under the direction of the court, cooperate with all law enforcement agencies, schools, child welfare agencies of a public or private character, and other groups concerned with the prevention of crime and delinquency and the rehabilitation of persons convicted of crime and delinquency.