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County allocates juvenile justice reinvestment funds to Watertown Boys & Girls Club
Summary
Codington County commissioners voted to allocate state juvenile justice reinvestment (JJRI) incentive dollars to the Watertown Boys & Girls Club to support diversion services after an update from the county diversion director.
Codington County commissioners voted Jan. 14 to allocate state juvenile justice reinvestment initiative (JJRI) incentive dollars to the Watertown Boys & Girls Club to support the county’s youth diversion program.
Director of the county youth diversion program Lewis Canfield told the commission the program closed 108 successful diversions between July and the end of 2024 and now has about 121 active cases. Canfield said the state raised the diversion incentive from $2.50 per successful diversion to $7.50, and that “the county received about $237,000 last year,” funds which the county has passed to the Boys & Girls Club in prior years.
Canfield and county staff described how the diversion program uses tailored plans — community service, mental‑health screening, substance‑use supports and referrals — and said cigarette‑vape referrals had fallen after the program began handling those cases. He also said simple assaults are rising, and the JJRI dollars would help the club maintain staff, buy a vehicle for outreach and update technology used for programming and reporting. Canfield: “We don’t anticipate these dollars to be this high in the upcoming years…so we want to take advantage of it being a little bit higher this year.”
County staff summarized the mechanics: once the board approved the allocation the funds would be moved from the county’s JJRI revenue into the Boys & Girls Club line item, as the county has done previously. Assistant county staff said a JDAI/ JJRI collaborative (law enforcement, court, mental‑health and school partners) supports the program; the county’s state’s attorney Allison Bakken provided a letter of support included in the record.
The commission approved the allocation by motion (mover: Commissioner McElhaney; second: Commissioner Gable) with an affirmative voice vote.
Why it matters: County officials said diversion keeps more juveniles out of formal court processing, connects youth to services and generates state incentive revenue passed through to local diversion providers.
What’s next: County staff will transfer the JJRI revenue to the Boys & Girls Club as authorized. The county and the Boys & Girls Club plan to use some one‑time funds this year for a vehicle, staff and technology; officials said they expect incentive levels to change in future years and will adjust county budgeting accordingly.
