After getting an earful from neighbors of a proposed location for a transitional living home for Section 980 Violent Sex offenders, the Marinette County Board backed away from using that location, but still faces the problem of finding a suitable location with a deadline looming.  The County’s Administrative Committee had recommended the county purchase a used sectional home to be placed on a county owned property on Mudbrook Road in the town of Lake.  While the location met state requirements, neighbors, many of whom have young children, were not pleased with the prospect of a violent sex offender being housed nearby.  Besides the potential danger they felt for themselves and their families, also mentioned was the distance the facility would be for responding law enforcement.  It could be at least 20 to 30 minutes if responders had to come from Marinette.

The County is looking for a suitable location to house a person who is to be released from the Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center in Mauston.  State law requires offenders to be released into their home county and it is up to that county to find suitable housing.  Marinette County was notified in February of the pending release and since then has been searching for a location, since no private entity has come forward to provide a housing option. With few options that met state criteria, County Administrator John Lefebvre found the Mudbrook Road property would work.

But hearing the objections of the neighbors, the county board voted 28-2 against using the Mudbrook Road location.  The County is under a court order to provide a suitable housing option by June 10th or face the possibility of hefty daily forfeitures.  So LeFebvre have will to look for other options. One idea suggested was to building a facility on property near the Law Enforcement Center in Marinette, but there would likely be zoning issues that could take months to resolve, well beyond the court ordered deadline.