Item Description:
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Supplemental appropriation for the 2024 Adult Representation Services department budget
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Resolution:
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BE IT RESOLVED, that a supplemental appropriation for the 2024 Adult Representation Services department budget be approved to increase the property tax revenue and expenditure budget by $2,747,361 and 12.0 FTEs to provide legal counsel to individuals experiencing poverty in Hennepin County Mental Health Court facing civil commitment, and that the 2024 Contingency property tax revenue and expenditure budget be decreased by $2,747,361; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a supplemental appropriation for the 2024 Adult Representation Services department be approved to increase the property tax revenue and expenditure budget by $914,939 and 7.0 FTEs to provide legal counsel to individuals experiencing poverty in Hennepin County Mental Health Court facing civil commitment and in need of competency attainment, and that the 2024 Contingency property tax revenue and expenditure budget be decreased by $914,939.
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Background:
In 1980, Hennepin County entered into a court ordered settlement, hereinafter referred to as the Consent Decree, part of which directed the funding and creation of a panel of qualified attorneys from which appointments would be made to provide legal services to certain persons subject to civil commitment under the Minnesota Comprehensive Mental Health Act (Minnesota Statute Sections 245.461 to 245.4887). To fulfill this obligation, Hennepin County has contracted with the Hennepin County Bar Association to establish and administer a Commitment Defense panel, from which lawyers are appointed to represent individual persons subject to commitment.
In 2022, the Hennepin County Board instructed the County to pursue a change to the Consent Decree to allow for Hennepin County Adult Representation Services (ARS) to provide this legal representation. In late 2023, Hennepin County filed a motion to vacate or alternatively...
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