Jackie Lallier
Wyoming Township Reporter

Beverly Snow, juvenile substance abuse court coordinator in Chisago County, attended the Wyoming Township meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 24 to apprise the town board of a program Judge Robert Rancourt has started in Chisago County specifically for children with drug and alcohol problems.

The philosophy of the program is to change the childís pattern before he/she becomes an adult.

There are four phases, the first being a court appearance with a parent every week, a probation officer contact twice a week and three weekly random checks for alcohol over a six-month period of time.

Since some children have very little supervision at home, the parents have to sign a contract with the judge and have no alcohol in the house or they can be found in contempt of court. If the child gets through the first phase, the court appearances, probation officer contacts and drug checks become less frequent until the child graduates after the fourth phase.

If the rules are broken, the child is detained and sometimes it is necessary to place him/her out of the home. It is planned that this program will bring good results as it has in other communities.

Snow said a ìstakeholdersî group has also formed in the area to assist with mentoring such children and left brochures with the town board on this program for local interest.

Other topics

Wyoming Interim Police Chief Scott Dexter attended the meeting with Officer Brian Rod who is serving as the departmentís interim sergeant.

Dexter assured the town board that a transition in police protection when the city/township merger is made should be smooth. Wyoming has four people on an eligibility list and plans to recruit two of them at the appropriate time they are needed.

The Wyoming Police Department currently has seven full-time officers on staff for a 24-hour coverage.

Dexter emphasized the good relationships with the Chisago County Sheriffís Department as well as the Minnesota State Patrol and told township officials that Wyoming has one of the lowest crime rates in the county.

Town Board Chairman Roger Elmore updated the board on the Wyoming City/Wyoming Township consolidation.

A letter has been received from the State of Minnesota to the effect that it is the stateís position the merger resolution be contested (Stacy and Chisago City have presented contesting petitions to annex land from Wyoming Township).

Elmore said he feels the cases cited by the state for the reasons for ordering a contested case hearing are similar but definitely not comparable enough to justify moving the situation to a contested case.

Chairman Elmore and city-township annexation committee will discuss an appeal with the township attorney.

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