Judge reports second treatment-court graduate, urges more referrals

Judge Yackel told the Sawyer County Public Safety Committee that the county’s treatment court celebrated its second graduate in January but overall enrollment has declined from an earlier high.

"We did have our second graduation from treatment court in January," Judge Yackel said, noting the program "started off with a kind of a high number, and now it's kind of whittled its way down to just a several remaining people in there." He said the court is working with the public defender's office and the district attorney to "find some way" to identify additional participants so the program can serve more people in need of recovery-focused treatment.

Yackel emphasized that graduation does not guarantee long-term success but called it "an important milestone" and another option for individuals to "get their life back and...be contributing members of society." He also described scheduling adjustments around the American Birkebeiner to avoid heavy court calendars during the multi-day event and to reduce demands on law enforcement.

The judge said he typically clears as much of his calendar as possible during Birkebeiner week and tries to reschedule or set bonds administratively to limit courtroom appearances.

The committee did not take any formal action on the treatment-court program during the meeting.