Dunn County panel sets grant process and approves $10,000 initial award from court surcharge fund

Dunn County’s new Crime Prevention Funding Board met to establish how it will operate, decide who may apply for grants from a court-assessed surcharge, and set a timeline to distribute nearly $12,000 the county has accumulated for crime-prevention purposes. Acting chair called the inaugural meeting to order and county staff reviewed the statute that narrowly limits fund uses to law-enforcement-focused crime-prevention activities.

Sarah, a county staff member who guided the meeting, said the statute specifies membership that includes the presiding judge, the district attorney, the sheriff, the county executive or county board chair, the chief elected official of the largest municipality, a representative chosen by the county’s chiefs of police, and the public defender. She said the funds are held by the county treasurer after transfer from the clerk of courts. “We have just shy of $12,000 currently in the Scribe Prevention Fund,” she said, noting the surcharge proceeds have been collected since late 2022 and stem from…