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Laura Yuen
St. Paul, Minn.

Report: Suburban courts miss criminal history of some re-offenders

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A report that will be released Wednesday says repeat offenders of misdemeanor-level domestic violence are less likely to be detected in suburban courts of Hennepin County than in the downtown Minneapolis court.

The group WATCH oversaw nearly 1,500 court appearances in Hennepin County over two years. Executive Director Marna Anderson said she was surprised to learn that in a quarter of the suburban cases monitored by her group, no pre-sentence investigation was ordered.

"The reason for that is then probation can set appropriate conditions," Anderson said. "They can supervise the individual appropriately, they can get victim input, they can look at the criminal record [and evaluate the likelihood of the person to re-offend]."

Assistant Chief Judge Peter Cahill of the Fourth Judicial District says the report identified some important issues, and that the court fully supports efforts toward reducing domestic violence.