New board to help finance fight against crime

Ozaukee County law enforcement officials have found a new funding source to help finance their fight against the increasing number of crimes fueled by drugs and mental illness.

The county Public Safety Committee last week gave the green light to District Attorney Ben Lindsay to begin work establishing a crime prevention funding board that would levy a $20 surcharge against anyone convicted of a misdemeanor or felony in the county.

County Clerk of Courts Connie Mueller  said in 2024 there were 1,572 misdemeanor and felony convictions, which would have generated $31,440 in funding for the crime

prevention fund.

The state statute that allows the county to create the board was passed in 2015 but has not been widely used by counties, including Ozaukee.

Lindsay said he just recently heard about the program at a conference.

“It has just been overlooked by a lot of counties,” he said.

Creation of the crime prevention board will have to be approved by the County Board, likely in July, Lindsay said.

“Once that happens, it’s automatic” and the crime prevention board will start operating and the surcharge will start being assessed, he said.

The new board will be able to solicit grant applications and distribute grants to nonprofit organizations and law enforcement agencies for the purpose of preventing crime, providing a funding source for crime prevention programs, encouraging the public to report crime, or assisting law enforcement agencies in the apprehension of criminal offenders, according to a memo that Lindsay presented to the committee.

“There’s a lot of nonprofits in the county who are doing great work and want to contribute more,” Lindsay said. “What I really like (about the board) is that it gives the county more flexibility” on how to tackle law enforcement issues in the county.

Lindsay said the additional funding is especially important now in light of the current uncertainty surrounding some of the grant funding at the federal level.

Under state statute, the board’s membership must consist of :

• The presiding judge of the circuit court, or his or her designee.

• The district attorney, or his or her designee.

• The sheriff, or his or her designee.

• The chief elected official of the largest municipality in the county, as determined by population, or his or her designee.

• A person chosen by a majority vote of the sheriff and all of the chiefs of police departments that are located in the county.

• A person chosen by the county’s public defender’s office.

• And either the county administrator or chairman of the County Board or their designee.

In recent years, the number of incidents involving mental illness or drugs steadily have increased.

That prompted the county last year to form a co-responder team composed of a specially trained sheriff’s deputy and social worker from the county Health and Human Services Department.

At the same meeting, the committee also approved a request from Sheriff Christy Knowles to look at building an addition to the county jail to expand the work release capacity and add space to house mental health cases and an office for a psychologist and nurses.