August 2025 Newsletter (Volume 11, Issue 8)
August 2025 Newsletter (Volume 11, Issue 8)
Headlines are provided below. Click to read each story in the newsletter.
New Uniform Patch
The Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) recently completed a redesign of its uniform patch which features several meaningful elements tied to Olmsted County and OCSO’s history. The old patch featured the former Minnesota State Seal, so when Minnesota redesigned its seal, OCSO began the process of coming up with a new patch that represents our office and the county we serve.
Funds for the project are being used from our existing and future budgets with gradual implementation.
Visit the initial press release showing a breakdown of the different elements featured in the patch.
Drug Court Upgrades to Treatment Court
Corporal Christian Spelhaug
While the term "Drug Court" is still widely used, the broader term Treatment Court is increasingly employed, especially by organizations like All Rise (formerly the National Association of Drug Court Professionals). This change reflects a broader focus on addressing the underlying issues of substance use and mental health disorders, not just drug-related offenses.
- Broader Scope: "Treatment court" encompasses a wider range of specialized courts, including Adult Drug Courts, Impaired Driving Treatment Courts (DWI courts), Family Treatment Courts, Juvenile Treatment Courts, Mental Health Courts, and Veterans Treatment Courts.
- Focus on Health & Recovery: This terminology emphasizes treating substance use disorder as a disease and promoting recovery, rather than solely focusing on the criminal aspect of drug offenses.
- Reduced Stigma: The term "drug court" can carry a negative stigma. The name “Treatment court" aims to reduce this stigma and highlight the rehabilitative nature of these programs.
Olmsted County Treatment Court operates with a maximum of 30 voluntary participants. The program takes a minimum of 15 months to complete. Requirements include being an 18-year-old or older felon, an Olmsted County resident, presumptive executed sentence and/or has exhausted traditional resources. A RANT assessment is completed to find the high risk & high need individuals in the judicial system that will benefit from the high intensity program. The disqualified are “Violent Offenders” designated by 42 U.S.C.3797u-2.
To date, the Olmsted County Treatment Court has had a total of 142 clients admitted into the program with a total of 79 (56%) graduation rate.
In June, most of the Olmsted Couty team attended the State Treatment Court Conference in Bloomington, Minnesota. The training conference provided treatment court professionals with information about the latest treatment court research, trends, and practices to support local treatment court operations and improve outcomes. Conference sessions were designed with all treatment court models and disciplines in mind.
On August 23, 2025, the team will be hosting the annual Friends of Treatment Court Kickball tournament at McQuillan Field starting at 09:30 a.m. In 2024 we served BBQ lunch to over 400 attendees and had 12 teams participating with music, a bounce house and cornhole games. This year we anticipate even more, and we have added vendor exhibits passing on useful information for all attending.
Monthly Snapshot: Treatment Court
Mission Statement: Olmsted County Treatment Court’s mission is to decrease drug and alcohol dependency, promote public safety and form partnerships with the participants, community, and the criminal justice system. These partnerships will use established evidence-based practices to promote effective treatment approaches thereby reducing costs to the community and reducing recidivism.
- 25 current participants in treatment court (22M, 3F).
- 2 pending graduations from treatment court within the next month.
- 3 pending referrals that are being investigated to see if eligible to join treatment court.
Dates of interest
August 1
Dover City Council Meeting
August 5
Elmira Township Meeting
High Forest Township Meeting
Olmsted County Board Meeting
August 7
Eyota City Council Meeting
Rochester Township Meeting
August 11
Chatfield City Council Meeting
Orion Township Meeting
Rock Dell Township Meeting
August 12
Byron City Council Meeting
Marion Township Meeting
New Haven Township Meeting
Stewartville City Council Meeting
August 14
Eyota City Council Meeting
Rochester Township Meeting
August 18
Eyota Township Meeting
Kalmar Township Meeting
Oronoco City Council Meeting
Rochester City Council Meeting
August 19
Farmington Township Meeting
Olmsted County Board Meeting
Pine Island City Council Meeting
August 20
Haverhill Township Meeting
August 23
Kickball Tournament
August 25
Chatfield City Council Meeting
Viola Township Meeting
August 26
Stewartville City Council Meeting
August 28
Dover Township Meeting
Eyota City Council Meeting
Olmsted County Fire Meeting
Olmsted County Township Association Meeting
Senior Administration
Sheriff
Kevin Torgerson
Chief Deputy - LEC
James Schueller
Captains
Jon Jacobson
Kelly Lee
Ryan Mangan
Tim Parkin
Chris Wallace
Executive Assistant
Laura Collins
Director - ADC
Samantha Reps
Captains
David Adams
Andy Danielson
Macey Tesmer