Washington County attorney briefs council on crime trends, trafficking task force and juvenile cases

Washington County Attorney Kevin Magnussen on Oct. 20 briefed the City of St. Paul Park council on public-safety trends in the county and on his office’s enforcement and victim-support efforts, citing vehicle-theft spikes tied to the COVID period, juvenile auto-theft and carjacking concerns, and the work of the East Metro human-trafficking task force.

Magnussen said public safety is the primary factor his office weighs when making charging decisions and described the county attorney’s caseload and structure: roughly 61.5 staff and five law clerks, with approximately 1,200 charging decisions per year and roughly 1,400 referrals from law enforcement.

“Public safety is the most important factor that we look at as we handle these cases,” Magnussen said. “We charge about 1,200 cases a year, and we get about 1,400 referrals, just generally speaking.”

He told the council that vehicle thefts and related offenses rose during the COVID-era “bubble” and subsequently dropped toward pre‑bubble levels; he said auto-theft remains a concern because juveniles involved in joyriding can escalate quickly into more serious theft and violent incidents. Magnussen described how automatic license‑plate reader (ALPR) alerts have aided recovery of stolen vehicles and reduced the need for high‑speed pursuits.

Magnussen described the county’s human-trafficking task force as a local, multi‑agency effort that conducts both sting operations against traffickers and recovery operations for victims. He said recovery and aftercare services — housing, chemical dependency treatment and mental-health support — are critical and often limited, and he urged attention to local recovery resources that can help trafficking victims transition out of exploitation.

“We do both sting operations to arrest traffickers and recovery operations to try to reach the victims,” Magnussen said. “The thing that needs the most attention is the recovery options. How do you live your life after you’ve had an intervention and you want to go in a different direction?”

The county attorney also discussed juvenile case handling, noting that diversion programs address many youth offenders with resulting recidivism rates below 10 percent for diversion participants, while a smaller number of juveniles proceed to more serious interventions or adult certification when crimes are severe.

Magnussen invited council members to contact his office with questions and noted ongoing cooperation between the county attorney’s office, the sheriff’s office and local police departments.

Ending: County Attorney Magnussen encouraged continued local collaboration on arrest-to-recovery pathways, emphasized victim services and recovery capacity as a countywide need, and said his office will continue to prioritize public safety and victim support in charging and prosecution decisions.