fice staff, did not name ….

fice staff, did not name a place to find funding for extra positions, but she did note that an $118,000 Safe Streets Program will be funded this year without having been evaluated for outcomes.

Supervisor Brent Jacobson, Mosinee, an attorney, questioned whether changes in state law might mean an end to the county’s OWI court, saving $165,000 a year that could be spent on district attorney staff.

County administrator Lance Leonhard said that possibility has already been discussed with county judges. New state law imposes new minimum mandatory sentences for fifth and sixth OWI repeaters, the target group for OWI court.

Supervisor Chris Dickinson, Mosinee, said he supported finding a way to pay for additional staff in the district attorney’s office.

County board chairman Kurt Gibbs, town of Cassel, said he supported addressing the prosecutor shortage in the district attorney’s office as part of working out funding issues for the entire county justice system.

The chairman said administrator Leonhard had been tasked to take a “systems” approach to the county’s justice departments but that dealing with COVID- 19 took precedence this past year.

He promised work on justice systems issues going forward. “The whole thing needs to be studied,” he said.