Residents, program alumni urge Winona County to keep treatment court funding
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Summary
Dozens of residents, program alumni and public-health professionals told the Winona County Board that treatment court and related CJCC wraparound programs reduce recidivism, save taxpayer dollars and help people reunite with family, calling on commissioners to avoid proposed cuts.
Dozens of treatment court alumni, family members and community partners addressed the Winona County Board on Nov. 15 to press commissioners not to cut funding for the county's treatment court, CJCC and related RAP wraparound services.
Speakers said the programs produce measurable results and direct community benefits. "I'm currently 5 years clean, and I would not have been able to do that without treatment court," said Tara Brown, a Winona resident and treatment court graduate. Karen Hyder, the county's treatment court coordinator, told the board Winona County's treatment court graduation rate is 63% for fiscal year 2025, higher than Minnesota's 59% and the national 58% averages. Hyder also cited a 10.7% one-year recidivism rate for program graduates and an improved sobriety metric of 75.3% in FY25.
The nut of the visitors' message was that cutting these programs would shift costs to law enforcement, health care and corrections. "A failure to invest here is not a saving. It is a catastrophic cost shift," Matia McGuire, owner of Common Ground Treatment Center, told the board.
Multiple alumni described how the program changed their lives. "It reunited me with my kids," said Jacob Miller, a program graduate who said the court's supports led him to employment and volunteer service. Britney Kilmus said the program had kept her clean for more than a decade.
County staff and other supporters emphasized program links to public-health and economic benefits: Hyder cited national research showing treatment courts can reduce overdose deaths and produce cost savings per participant; Professor Mary Ann Abendroth of Winona State University told the board student observers had seen reductions in emergency-department visits and improvements in family stability.
Board members asked staff to provide the supporting statistics and vowed to review grant and levy allocations in the coming budget work. There was no board motion to cut or restore funding during the meeting; commissioners asked for additional documentation from program staff and for time to consider budget tradeoffs during the 2026 planning process.
The board requested Hyder's statistics for the record and signaled follow-up discussion as part of the county's early-2026 budget planning.
