County attorney reports 14 felonies, recommends diversion limits and resource shift to repeat offenders

Janelle Kendall, Stearns County Attorney and the city’s contract prosecutor, told the Paynesville City Council that her office is narrowing diversion eligibility to truly first-time offenders and redirecting staff toward repeat and violent offenders. "The law does require me to have a diversion program for adults and for juveniles but we get to decide what the criteria for those diversions are and in Stearns County we do literally only first-time offenders," she said.

Kendall said the county opened files on 14 felonies arising in Paynesville last year and that, while overall felony counts are down across the state, the size and complexity of files have increased because of digital evidence. "If you look back at the size of a file two years ago versus the size now it's literally twice as big," she said, citing body-worn camera footage, security cameras and other digital material.

The county attorney also described shifting a longtime diversion specialist to work on an uptick in repeat/violent-offender cases, noting that the office tried a higher-than-usual number of jury trials last year and had many cases resolve the morning of trial. She praised local investigations and singled out recent cases as examples of effective coordination between the county attorney’s office and the Paynesville Police Department.

Kendall highlighted the role of court-certified support animals in sensitive cases and referenced a county canine used in sexual-assault trials that has been affirmed by the Minnesota Court of Appeals. On procedural matters she said case names and specific investigative details remain with the chief and that routine annual reporting will continue under the existing contract.

The council received the report; no formal council action was required on the prosecution contract at this meeting.