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1. What is pretrial supervision?

For certain cases the Court may allow the defendant to be released without bail or with a reduced amount of bail with an understanding that they will be subject to pretrial supervision. Specific conditions of their release are pronounced, including but not limited to the following: Abstinence of drugs and alcohol, submit to random testing to verify compliance, Electronic Home Monitoring, house arrest, and/or no have contact with the alleged victim. Upon release from jail, the defendant must report immediately to the probation department to check in. A probation officer or surveillance officer reviews the conditions of release to insure there is a clear understanding of the expectations. The role of the probation officer and/or surveillance officer is to both monitor compliance with the release conditions and to assist the defendant in taking any steps in engaging in any relevant assessments, programming or interventions.

2. What is Color Code?

The purpose of the color code testing program is to provide a random system for spot checking compliance with the Court’s order to abstain from drugs and alcohol. Individuals who have been ordered to submit to random drug/alcohol testing (both pretrial and probation) may be assigned a color by their probation officer. They are directed to call in daily to 218-327-2816 between the hours of 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. to learn the color of the day. If the person’s color is identified as one of the colors of the day, they are expected to report to their designated testing site within the prescribed time frame. There are different testing sites for various assigned colors. Failure to report as instructed may be processed as a violation to the Court.

3. What are supervision fees?

Pursuant to Minnesota Statute 244.18 (Minn. Stat. § 244.18), individuals placed on probation are ordered by the Court to pay an annual supervision fee. The fee structure is as follows:
Juvenile Probation - $90 Annually
Adult Probation - $180 Annually
Admin Probation - $75

Payments are made directly at the probation department via cash, check, money order, cashier’s check or credit card. Supervision fees can be worked off by performing approved community work service (CWS). Fees must be satisfied for consideration of early discharge. Failure to satisfy these fees by payment or approved CWS will result in revenue recapture being filed with the State Department of Revenue.

4. What is Supervised Release?

Minnesota has what is called determinant sentencing for felony cases. When a person is sentenced to an executed prison term, the Judge must pronounce the specific duration that the offender will serve in custody. It is presumed that they will serve 2/3 of their sentence in custody (provided they are of good behavior while in prison) and then be supervised for the remaining 1/3 of their sentence upon their release. During this period of Supervised Release, the offender must adhere to various special conditions, as well as a number of standard conditions. If they are found in violation of these terms, they could be returned to custody for however much time remains on their sentence. In Itasca County, individuals on Supervised Release are supervised by the Minnesota Department of Corrections 218-322-2920).