As warrants pile up, Minnesota DOC asks lawmakers for $1M to grow fugitive arrest unit
Hundreds of Minnesota criminals are on the run, and some of them are violent. But 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has learned that when it comes to parole violations for convicts that the Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) is responsible for monitoring — the agency only has 13 officers to track them down.
“It’s a very small unit,” DOC Commissioner Paul Schnell said in an interview. “There’s only 13 people in that unit right now, and so it’s very hard to get focused on these warrants, and we can build a backlog.”
As a result, the DOC is asking the legislature for an additional $1 million to double the staff in the fugitive apprehension unit.
Schnell told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that the agency has more than 200 new arrest warrants monthly. Because of the heavy workload, the unit prioritizes who to bring into custody.
“You know, loss of life cases, level 3 sex offenders, cases of people who are believed to be involved in active criminal activity,” Schnell said. “Those are the priority cases.”
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“If we have a warrant that’s up in Duluth or Fergus Falls, and our intel people can work on that warrant a little bit, do the investigative leg work and figure out where that person may be at, and then have local law enforcement act on that warrant, that’s a good use of our resources,” Schnell noted.
While the agency can get assistance from local law enforcement, a DOC spokesperson says that it all depends on what resources those agencies have available.
The omnibus public safety bill includes a DOC request for the additional $1 million for the fugitive apprehension unit, an agency spokesperson noted. That bill has passed both chambers of the legislature but still has to get through a conference committee.
Until its passage, the fugitive apprehension unit of 13 officers will continue to prioritize its caseload and work with local law enforcement when possible.
“Ultimately, we need to get these people into custody,” Schnell said.