Rock County Public Safety and Justice Committee Proposes Human Trafficking Homeless Shelter

This new resolution could go to the full county board as early as Nov. 16. County Administrator Josh Smith confirmed Wednesday that he recommended the resolution go to the county board’s human services board because it would add duties to Human Services.

Rock County Board member Mike Zoril, who also sits on the Public Safety and Justice Committee, lauded the resolution in a press release. Zoril said there will be legal and administrative notes over the next 30 days.

In the press release, Zoril said that the resolution went through the committee under his “audacious leadership with strong support” from supervisors April Whitledge and Brian Knudson.

“Mark my words: the time for talk is dead. We’re in control, and we’re acting,” Zoril wrote in the press release. He later wrote, “The old resolution is ashes; in its place, a concrete plan to annihilate this evil from our community.”

The release had no mention of a potential location for a shelter. It also didn’t mention if the $1.5 million would be from unallocated ARPA funds or if there will be a proposal to reallocate the funds from somewhere else. It also does not state if any of the $1.5 million would have contingency funds, or if similar facilities were built for $1.5 million.

Zoril did not respond to a voicemail or emails prior to deadline Wednesday.

Smith said Wednesday that as far as he was aware, there had been no discussions about the proposal so he didn’t have any information on potential locations for a shelter.

Zoril’s release stated that the Human Services Department would be directed to research long-term funding options, apply for grants and investigate the possibility of setting aside a portion of the $1.5 million to purchase an annuity, “only if legally permissible” after research is done to help offset ongoing costs.

The Human Services Department would have to identify and collaborate with a qualified third-party organization to operate and manage the specialized homeless shelter for human trafficking survivors, so the county would not be directly operating the shelter.

The department would be required to oversee the shelter project, to ensure that it meets the needs of trafficking survivors and “operates in coordination with the Rock County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force and the Rock County Sheriff’s Department,” the resolution states.

The resolution has a clause that states “a plaque and a photograph will be placed at the entrance of the completed shelter to honor the Rock County Supervisors who made this initiative possible by voting in favor of this resolution.”

The end of the resolution takes a turn that seemingly challenges board members to pass the resolution as written, stating that, “We stand at a crossroads, and the choice couldn’t be clearer.”

“You’re either with us, taking tangible steps to eradicate this scourge, or you’re against us–and against the very ideals that make this country great,” Zoril wrote. “Choose wisely, for the path we take will either elevate or doom Rock County.”

If approved by the board, it would need a second action by the board to add it to the budget. Budgetary amendments require two-thirds majority for approval.

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