Marinette County continues a search for a suitable location for a transitional housing facility for a section 980 Sex Offender who is scheduled to be released from the Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center in June.  State law requires offenders to be released into their home county and it is up to that county to find suitable housing.  County Administrator John LeFebvre says several potential properties have been evaluated to see if they meet the state’s criteria which includes separation from schools, churches , or daycares.  He says the sheriff’s department gets involved in determining whether there are children living adjacent to the property, which would disqualify it from consideration.  That has led to rumors getting started…

Among the locations that have been looked at is a property on Trellis Road in the Town of Middle Inlet that the County acquired through tax foreclosure.  It would appear to meet the necessary criteria, but LeFebvre says it may take time to evict the former owner, plus the preference is to work with a vendor, who would acquire a property and lease it to the state, rather than using county owned land. He says at this time, that property is not high on the list of locations where they want to locate a sex offender.

So far a limited number of properties have been identified as meeting the requirements, but with the current real estate climate, the homes do not stay on the market long and so far it was not been possible for a vendor to acquire a suitable property.

Should a location not be available by next month’s deadline the county could be sanctioned $500 to $1000 a day by the court.