The 20th MAPSA Conference took place on Wednesday, April 26th at the Mystic Lake Casino Hotel. Thank you to members who were able to attend and a special thanks to our speakers, vendors and award winners! The conference started off with keynote speaker, Lori Eville from NIC presenting on Framework for Pretrial Justice and provided information to agencies to have an effective pretrial agency. She was followed by speaker Katie Schurrer from the State Court Administrator’s Office. Katie presented…

Mary Ellen Heng doesn’t think a bank account should dictate how long someone spends in jail. Yet throughout her career, the deputy Minneapolis city attorney has repeatedly seen exactly that: people lingering in Hennepin County jail because they can’t afford a $78 bail. “I don’t want to see that as a prosecutor,” she said. “I don’t want someone simply sitting in jail on a low-level misdemeanor because they can’t post. That’s not what the law requires.” For the past…

Simon Cecil sat on a metal stoop at the Hennepin County jail’s exit, studying a mug shot of a man he’s never met but just paid $50 to bail out.Mug shots rarely capture a flattering likeness, and Cecil has learned that calculating the time it takes to discharge someone from jail is a science of educated guessing, so he stares at every face moving to the door, looking for David Stribling. After about half an hour, Cecil spots a guy who might be Stribling, but when he approaches, the…

We had another successful conference this year which included an agenda filled with very informational training sessions. We continue to get good feedback about the conference being held at the Mystic Lake Casino Hotel and MAPSA intends on continuing to hold our annual conference at Mystic Lake. Here are some of the highlights of this year’s conference! Judge Mark Wernick was the conference’s keynote speaker and gave a very informational presentation on bail, public safety, and…

Place your nominations for the 2016 MAPSA Board of Directors Award. This award will be presented at the 2016 MAPSA Conference on May 4, 2016 which is held at the Mystic Lake Casino. This award will be given to a person or program who has demonstrated outstanding dedication and professionalism in the field of diversion, pretrial screening or pretrial services. The nomination form can be found in the Summer 2016 Newsletter. The completed forms can be emailed to mapsa@mapsamn.us, emailed to any…