Richland County Community Service
Located at Richland County Law Enforcement Center
413 3rd Ave North
Wahpeton, ND 58075
Phone: (701) 642-7721
Email: Darlene Lee - Program Director
Serving all of Richland County
Mission Statement: The Community Service Program seeks to encourage a sense of investment in the community on the part of offenders while at the same time strengthening the community’s commitment to embracing all of its citizens.
Benefits/Purposes: Community service is a remedial sanction that links the nature of the service to the offence being sanctioned; it can be a positive sanction that evokes responsibility from the offender for his/her actions; and it reduces the financial burden and over-crowding in the state’s detention centers.
Community service provides an opportunity for the offender to see first-hand the indirect injuries caused by his/her offense. In this way, the offender may see the reasons for the limits of social tolerance. Moreover, the offender is provided with a constructive, proactive means of repairing the injuries caused by his/her crime, with the potential to improve the offender's overall sense of self-worth. This can be an effective means of promoting the offender's genuineness. Finally, offenders' services can be a tremendous resource to non-profit and government organizations.
The emphasis of community service is not on punishment or on rehabilitation; rather, on accountability. It focuses on their strengths, their capacity for responsibility, and on their capacity to choose.
Referral Procedures: Referral sources include district court, municipal court, juvenile court, juvenile services, prosecuting attorneys, and the probation and parole office. The offender is required to contact the Community Service Director within 48 hours following sentencing and should be specifically directed by the court to make such contact. The offender is required to submit a program fee before being allowed to perform community service unless previous arrangement has been made.
Consider Becoming a Worksite: To determine if your organization or event could benefit from the assistance of men and women working to meet their legal obligations, please contact the Richland County Community Programs Director at 701-642-7721 or by email to dflee@co.richland.nd.us. To discuss the guidelines for establishing a partnership to define the purpose and types of services offenders would perform.
***Member of the North Dakota Community Corrections Association***
