After a two-year period when the Rice County Courts were closed far more often than they were active, Rice
With that said, he would also like the court system to be a little more reasonable in their demands to reduce the number further.
During the pandemic, the criminal case backlog in Rice County ballooned to well over 300 cases. Without the threat of going to trial, many defendants were not interested in negotiating a plea bargain, so the situation stagnated until trials resumed. At that point, the courts brought in retired Rice County judge John Cajacob to work part-time and handle initial appearance hearings and smaller cases. With three full time judges, one part time judge, and a newly constructed Covid safe courtroom, the county now has the ability to try two cases at the same time. Accordingly, the backlog has been greatly diminished.
Still, Fossum believes the court system is not being completely reasonable in the way they are assessing that backlog.
“A month ago, the backlog was 132 cases, which is where they wanted us to be in November,” he said. “This week the number is 180, which tells me they are adding cases.”
He said counting cases into the backlog that have just recently been charged is not right. It is Fossum’s belief that the backlog should be assessed as the cases that were charged during the pandemic and should not include newer cases.
“Right now, the backlog is the caseload,” he said. “Rice county has always had a caseload, and it will always have a caseload. I’ve never seen a county attorney’s office that is completely caught up.”
He said there are questions being posed to him by the courts about what his plans are for next summer, when the funding for Judge Cajacob is set to expire. He said, if the courts want to see more expedient action in Rice County, then they should be willing to allocate more resources to the county.
“40 years ago in Rice County, we had we had three District Court judges and a population of under 40,000. Today we have a population of 67,000 and we have three District Court judges. And so, if there’s a capacity issue here, then perhaps the court system needs to find a way to address it.”
Fossum also said neither the county nor his office will face any penalties for not decreasing the number sooner.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Rice County Attorney John Fossum can be heard here
Clean River Partners looking for volunteers to help clean-up the Cannon River watershed this weekend
Clean River partners will coordinate the 14th Annual Cannon River Watershed Cleanup on Saturday and are 
asking for volunteers to help clean up litter over what amounts to more than 1 million acres of land.
After 14 years, Clean River Partners Community Engagement Coordinator Kevin Strauss said more people are starting to understand what litter can do to a river. The site leaders of the annual event have been reporting less and less garbage in the central locations where they begin and are having to walk farther out to find the litter that is still invariably there.
He said it’s also important to understand that the litter in the watershed and along the riverbanks isn’t necessarily dropped where it’s found. In fact, he said, it could come from anywhere.
“Litter could actually come from anywhere in the city because we have these really efficient stormwater systems. If someone litters in our neighborhood, the wind could blow that litter down to the street and down the storm drain, and those storm drains are really efficient. They’ll carry that material along with, you know, water right out to the river. And so, we’ve been doing education in schools and programs about people cleaning up everywhere since it can all end up in the river. We’re definitely making progress.”
They are asking for volunteers to help in Northfield, Faribault, Cannon Falls, Owatonna and several other communities along the Cannon River. In Northfield, the clean-up areas will be in Lions Riverside Park and in the Carleton Arboretum. Volunteers will primarily pick up litter around the riverbank areas. While some volunteers will be taking a canoe, he said the portion of the cleanup they are coordinating is all work on dry land.
Also on Saturday, Clean River Partners will have a booth at the Hispanic Heritage Festival. The organization does stormwater education for the city of Northfield, Strauss said, and the city has asked them to expand their outreach. He said they worked with the city’s translator, Claudia Garcia, and for the Heritage Festival, they will have Spanish translations of newspaper articles the organization has written about stormwater and keeping the river clean.
Strauss reminded all participants to dress properly. They are recommending long pants, long sleeves, and closed toed shoes.
The event will run Saturday from 9am until noon. To register, visit cleanriverpartners.org/cleanup.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Kevin Strauss of Clean River Partners can be heard here
Council budgeting work session set for tonight
And the Northfield City Council will meet for a work session tonight at the Northfield police station. 
The agenda will simply be a continuation of the budgeting discussion that began in August. By law, the City Council must set the preliminary tax levy for 2023 in September. With only one regular meeting left for the month, which is one week from tonight, the council will look for a consensus this evening on where the levy should be.
Traditionally, the recommendation to the council has always been to set the preliminary levy at the highest possible mark and then work down from there before the budget is finalized in December. Most likely that decision will be made tonight.
As always, the City Council and the Northfield City Staff are eager to hear the opinions of the public on any matter, whether the subject is on the Council agenda or not. The meeting tonight is a work session, so the Council will not hear from the public. However, those who do wish to make a point, air an opinion or ask a question can email their councilor directly or make use of the eComment function which can be found in the “Agendas” section of the city website.
Tonight’s meeting will begin at 6pm.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
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