Dunn County reviews pretrial screening, diversion program data and strategies to reduce missed court appearances

Sandy Frigo, pretrial service coordinator for Dunn County, told the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council that the county uses three screening tools — the Public Safety Assessment (PSA), a face-to-face drug screener and the GAIN short screener — to inform pretrial recommendations provided to judges, defense counsel and the district attorney's office.

"It's completely voluntary. If they choose not to do it, it's not held against them," Frigo said, describing confidentiality protections and how results are compiled into a pretrial recommendation report. She said Dunn County adopted the PSA in June 2023 because it can be completed without a face-to-face meeting and is transparent about how scores are derived.

Frigo reported she completed 235 drug screeners in 2024 and said alcohol and methamphetamine made up more than half of problematic substances reported; the same pattern continued through the first nine months of 2025, with opioids the third most commonly reported substance. She also summarized GAIN short-screener findings showing many respondents scored high on internalizing and externalizing disorder domains.

Frigo said she tracks…