Minnehaha County hears pretrial services update; staff demo facial‑recognition check‑ins

The Minnehaha County Commission on June 16 heard a presentation on the county’s Pretrial Services program and a demonstration of a mobile monitoring application that uses facial‑recognition check‑ins.

Erin Srstka, University of South Dakota Community Projects Director, outlined the history and goals of Pretrial Services, including case processing, public‑safety assessment data, and planned expansion of monitoring options. Pretrial staff including Amanda Petersen and Holly Hansen demonstrated the SCRAM TouchPoint mobile monitoring application and described how the facial‑recognition check‑in is used to confirm a participant’s identity during remote reporting. Janel Ingalls discussed procedures for individuals who fail to check in, and Michelle Boyd explained Pretrial Services’ role from arrest through court appearance. Deputy Sheriff Corporal Jasmine Thelen was introduced as staff assisting electronic monitoring and related programs.

Commissioners asked staff about the budget and the program’s expansion under COVID‑19 conditions. According to county presenters, program operations and monitoring changes are tied to both public‑safety assessment results and available funding; commissioners requested additional budget detail. No change to county policy or a vote to adopt facial‑recognition technology was taken at the meeting.

Why it matters: Pretrial monitoring touches public safety, individual liberty and county budgets. The use of facial recognition for routine identity checks raises oversight and privacy questions that commissioners signaled they want resolved before any program expansion.

Next step: Staff will provide further budget detail and continue answering commissioner questions; the commission did not take formal action on monitoring policy at this meeting.