To: Martin L. Cousineau, Finance Committee Chairperson
From: Marlene Collick, Deputy Director, Community Engagement & Justice Services
title
RE: Approval of a Letter of Agreement Amendment No.1 for Fiscal Year 2027 in the amount of $148,717.00 between Genesee County and 7th Circuit Court to provide staffing for the court; the cost of this request will be paid from Opioid Settlement Funds
recommendation
BOARD ACTION REQUESTED:
Genesee County Community Engagement and Justice Services is requesting an amount not to exceed $148,717.00 from the opioid settlement funds for Genesee County Specialty Court for Fiscal Year 2026/2027, October 1, 2026, through September 30, 2027, for one (1) year.
BACKGROUND:
Genesee County Specialty Courts has been in operation for many years and primarily funded through grant federal dollars. As noted in RESO-2025-2092, the Board of Commissioners approved this resolution to assist Specialty Court in dealing with the decreases received by the federal grant streams last year. Program terminations and budget decreases have taken place and are still taking place nationwide. This request is to supplement funding cuts with Opiate Settlement Funds to maintain the current staff so that the capacity of clients projected for in Genesee County Specialty Court Programs can be accommodated.
DISCUSSION:
Genesee County Specialty Courts consist of Mental Health Court, Recovery Court, Veterans Treatment Court and Family Dependency Treatment Court. Since January 1, 2020, Specialty Courts has assisted over 950 defendants in Genesee County with both criminal and civil dockets. At any given time, these programs have a total capacity of 230.
Opioid Settlement Funds will assist with funding 50% FTE of a Specialty Court Coordinator position ($116,716), and 30% FTE of a Specialty Court Operations Specialist II position ($32,001.00). Allowing contingency management procedures to continue, 7th Circuit Court will be able to offer specialty courts at the ma...
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