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<br />City of Elk River <br />2004 Annual Report <br /> <br />LEGAL <br /> <br />MISSION STATE.ME.NT: <br /> <br />q1\ Our mission is to effectively and efficiently prosecute all misdemeanor and <br />I /1_\ gross misdemeanor criminal offenses, traffic offenses, and city ordinance <br />) ~ violations that occur in our city, and to deliver high quality, cost effective legal <br />services that are responsive to our city's needs. <br /> <br />YEAR IN REVIEW <br /> <br />Moving into our new office in City Hall was the highlight for 2004. Our new office provides <br />ample storage space for effective records management as well as a comfortable working <br />environment. <br /> <br />Clarissa Christian, a third year law student at William Mitchell College of Law, has been <br />working part time for us since July 2004. We were able to hire her through a work-study <br />program at William Mitchell. She has worked out great! She has assisted Jennifer with her work <br />and has provided back-up coverage for her. As a certified student attorney, she has been able <br />to help me in court, has done legal research, and has assisted me in other aspects of both <br />criminal and civil cases. Her help has been invaluable. <br /> <br />Coverage for Jennifer and me remains an issue that needs to be resolved. The hiring of a law <br />clerk has helped; however, additional staff is required to provide coverage for us. The <br />Sherburne County Attorney's office has been providing coverage for us. We have been told by <br />them that they will not do this indefinitely. <br /> <br />CRIMINAUTRAFFIC <br /> <br />We opened 982 files in 2004. That is an increase of 2.3% over 2003. I've kept up with charging <br />cases. There is no backlog. <br /> <br />Effective August I, 2005, the legal blood alcohol level for operating a motor vehicle will be <br />lowered to .08. The .08 threshold will likely result in more OWl arrests and therefore an <br />increase in the number of OWl prosecutions. <br /> <br />Two training sessions were presented for the Police Department. One was targeted for new <br />officers. It was titled, "A Guide to Testifying in Court." The other training session was for <br />the entire department. It was titled, "Domestic Violence Related Orders." I also spoke to <br />school bus drivers for the Elk River Area School District with Officer Jeff Garcia. I talked to <br />them about the prosecution of school bus stop arm violators. <br /> <br />Our office and the Police Department, in conjunction with the Retailers Protection Association <br />(RPA) have implemented a worthless check diversion program. This program holds first time <br />