By Jay Olson

Sergeant James Schmitt (MCF-LL) received an appreciation certificate on March 27, 2023 for his “dedication and commitment" as a Master Instructor-Weapons.

Jim was always willing to help. He did a lot of the behind-the-scenes things that you don't see, but are necessary for the success of training. His contributions to our Weapons training program will be missed.

Jim is retiring later this month.

By Jenny McMahon

I would like to give a shout out to Wade Mallon and the STS program in Goodhue County. I received a letter from a participant of the program who stated the following:

"I am grateful for the time I spent working with Wade, who I found to be very dedicated to the program and its mission. He was willing to spend extra time and effort educating me on each job we were a part of, so that I got the most out of the experience and felt appreciated. I learned a great deal in my brief time on the crew, including valuable skills in carpentry, painting, snow removal, tree care and trimming, and proper use, care, and maintenance of various tools used in these specialized jobs.

It is unfortunate that many counties throughout Minnesota have discontinued or significantly limited their STS programs following the COVID 19 pandemic, and I sincerely hope that your program continues to thrive in the coming years."

By Michelle Saari

A former incarcerated individual called the Rush City facility, and left a voice mail for Behavioral Health. They wanted to thank Dr. Sheeran for helping them work through gender indentity struggles while they were incarcerated. Now that they are out of prison they are living an authentic life and doing very well. Thank you Dr. Sheeran for the great work you do, and for making a difference in the lives of your clients.

By Roman George

The evening of Tuesday, March 21, during a Weather Alert in the Fargo/Moorhead area, Hennepin County ISR learned that an incarcerated person with multiple high risk factors had pled guilty, was sentenced, and given credit for time served and may have been released in the immediate area.

Through multiple communications, Corrections Agent Sr. Justin Ball - under late night blizzard conditions - responded immediately and located the individual being processed and released from the Cass County Jail in Fargo, ND.

Justin connected with the individual that was hungry, homeless, and with no financial means to care for himself. Justin transported him back into Moorhead, Minnesota where he purchased food and provided him with bedding and shelter at the local DOC leased residence for the night. The following day, Justin provided the individual with additional food and resources to help assist in his transition, including providing him with an additional overnight stay because of the deteriorating weather and road conditions.

In addition to his work with the individual, Justin continued working with his current caseload and communication with Hennepin County and Central Transport to assist in transporting him back to his approved placement in Hennepin County.

On the morning of Thursday, March 23, Justin transported the individual to Detroit Lakes where he connected with Central Transport who transported the individual home.

Justin Ball has been providing Special Supervision throughout the Moorhead area for more than a decade and has always been responsive to individuals, the department, and stakeholders in need!

By Latoya Shelby

Lino Lakes welcomed a new round of Academy Graduates on March 14, 2023. Each graduate provided a brief bio below the group photo to introduce themselves.

L to R: COI Aubrey Gill, COI Bryson Klar, COI Ger Lor, COI Alex Hart & Cook Coordinator Korto Baker

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Cook Coordinator Korto Baker

My name is Korto Baker and I'm from Liberia and a proud mother. I also love to learn new things.

COI Aubrey Gill

My name is Gill the last job was at a place called Boot Barn and I also currently am in the National guard as a CBRN in mid-February will be my two years working in the guard. Some of my hobbies are going out into the world and going on mini adventures, drawing, working out and playing games. I am excited and am willing to learn about what this job and what it entails. I can't wait to start learning and working with you guys.

COI Alex Hart

My name is Adam Hart. On my spear time I enjoy working out at the gym, playing basketball, & spending time with my mom and dad. I have 8yrs or experience in security. My last job I was an Security Officer at Regions hospital. I hope I can make working at Minnesota Department of Corrections a long-term career.

COI Ger Lor

My name is Ger Lor. I’m an active person. I love playing sports, most sports. I see myself as a people-person; A very approachable person for sure. I used to work as a PCA before I started at the DOC. Another fact, I’m the 12th out of 13th children. Always a knowledge seeking person, so my curiosity level is high. I believe that knowing more is better than less. Hope to start the year as a CO with some amazing time and learn new skills.

COI Joseph Nasal

I am Joseph NaSal and what brought me to corrections is that I have a degree in Criminal Justice and I have a passion to help others where I can and be a great influence to others around me. I have been currently serving in the army reserves for the last 17 years and 3 more to go I will be retiring from the military. I grew up in Red Wing Minnesota and hope to retire from the Department of corrections with great memories and long lasting memories.

COI Bryson Klar

I am Bryson Klar, I previously worked in underground utilities putting in underground power lines up north. I recently moved from a small town to the big city so it’s a lot of change but I am excited to get into it. I’m also a big NBA and OKC fan.

By Latoya Shelby

Work out of class (WOOC) Sex Offender Treatment Program (SOTP) Psych Services Director, Samantha Ortman, recently celebrated reaching 15 years of state service!

Congratulations!

L to R: AWA Vicki Janssen, AWO Mary McComb, WOOC SOTP Psych Services Director Samantha Ortman, Behavioral Health Services Director Shanna Langston, Warden Shannon Reimann & Captain Chad Oye

By Melissa Paquette

MCF-Faribault's Corrections Canine Officer Ken Parr and his partner Fezzik received the Rookie Dog Award in their very first Narcotics Detection Trial! CCO Parr and K9 certified & took home the award for the highest score for a rookie/rookie handler.

Congratulations!

CCO Parr and K9 Fezzik

By Ian Heaslip

Chrissy Gamst, Corrections Security Caseworker Career at MCF- Moose Lake, is the winner of the Transforming Lives Award of the month in the category of Above and Beyond Call of Duty. The following narrative illustrates the great work that Chrissy does here at the facility!

Case Manager Chrissy Gamst has gone above and beyond the call of duty with regards to her job duties as a Case Worker-Career. At the beginning of the summer, she volunteered to take the lead in rebuilding the Restorative Justice committee at MCF-ML. The committee had lost some momentum during COVID and lost about half of its members. She dedicated herself to rebuilding the committee based on RJ principles while taking a person-centered approach. She facilitated several meetings with the remaining RJ committee members focused initially on finding new members. She listened to what the current members wanted with regards to criteria for new members. She then facilitated a welcome circle for the new members and allowed the members to set the standards for their participation and their accountability to one another.

As the work was being done in rebuilding the RJ Committee, she was able to work with the committee to provide RJ programming at MCF-ML. She had a presentation given to the committee by Laura Anderson, an intern for The Center for Restorative Justice and Peacemaking at UMD via Teams, which led to several incarcerated individuals at MCF-ML participating in a call for papers about their story. Ms. Gamst facilitated Inside/Out presentations during the summer and early fall. Finally, thanks in large part to the work she did to rebuild the RJ Committee, MCF-ML had a very successful RJ week, offering several different programing options through the shortened week.

MCF-ML is currently running 2 weekly sessions of RJ 101 where incarcerated people learn the principles of RJ and learn to apply those principles to their life. This is a direct result of the work Ms. Gamst has done with the RJ Committee. It should also be noted, Ms. Gamst was doing all of this work despite a large caseload of her own while covering the case load of one of her co-workers who was out on a medical. She accomplished all of this while presenting a great “can do” attitude even though it was a lot of detail orientated work. She certainly went above and beyond the call of duty.

L to R: Brian Collins, Warden; Chrissy Gamst, Corrections Security Caseworker Career; Kevin Szczyrbak, Corrections Program Director

By Holly VanPelt

Matt Ziebell, Sentence to Service Crew Leader in Mower County, has presented to the Mower County Board of Commissioners and two non-profit organizations recently. He is spreading the word about how valuable our STS program is and how it benefits the communities we serve. He is also making partnerships for future projects.

Thank you Matt for all you do!

Matt Ziebell

By Tina Payton

Ofc. Moss dedicates his time as an FTO coordinator, R2R instructor, CPR instructor, and as a Mentor coordinator. He works on 1st watch and tries his best to be there when new academies have their first OJT shift on 1st watch. He stays after his shift to help with FTO orientation and wrap up, and he'll do at least two shifts a month training new officers in Self Defense, Control Tactics, and/or Chemical Irritant.

The time and effort that he puts in to help mentor and train new academies is amazing and certainly shows that he is someone that you want on your team.

Thanks for everything that you do Moss!