MISSION Minnesota Association of County Probation Officers is dedicated to promoting quality correctional practices through professional growth, leadership, education, communication and support.
MACPOST Newsletter has been completed!
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To view the most recent legislative update from Todd Patzer (AMC), Catherine Johnson (MACCAC), Paul Schnell (DOC), and Jason Anderson (MACPO), click on the image below.
Thank you to all who submitted pictures for the 2022 Spring MACPOST Newsletter. Here are all of the pictures that were submitted.
Check out MACPO's 2022 President and Secretary applicants so you'll be ready to vote. President Nominee: Jonathan Schiro
Jon is the Waseca County Court Services Director where he has worked since November 2016. Prior to working in Waseca County, Jon was employed with Brown County Probation for over 17 years. Jon has been a member of MACPO since 1999 and has served on the membership, legislative, and executive committees. Jon served as the 2016 MACPO President, and was the recipient of the 2010 MACPO “Excellence in Corrections” award. Jon holds a B.S in Sociology with a minor in Criminal Justice from South Dakota State University. He lives in New Ulm with his wife and two children. Jon enjoys spending time with his family, time at the lake, and is an avid fisherman. Secretary Nominee: Michelle Sellner
My name is Michelle Sellner and I am an agent in Pine County. I primarily supervise high risk and DWI ISP cases, as well as some pre-trial cases. Outside of the day to day grind of being a probation officer I have two children, Harrison (7) and Jenarae (4). If I could describe them with two words it would be “little spitfires,” because they definitely keep me on my toes. I also have, what many of you have called “a funny farm” consisting of… wait for it… five dogs, three cats, one rabbit, and a pot belly pig named Buttercup. I participate on multiple boards and represent committees throughout Minnesota, such as MAPSA, Peer Support, Veterans Court, MACPO Training and Education, and Pine County Adult Protection. I was once told by my father “someone can take your home, money, and car but nobody can take away your knowledge.” This is why I strive to learn every day and participate in as much as possible, because I believe knowledge is powerful. Over the past two years I have had the privilege of serving as MACPO Secretary. In this role, I have learned to navigate the challenges that came with Covid19, which has changed corrections supervision as we previously knew it. I have gained incredible colleagues and friendships with those I have come in contact with. I value the relationships I have built and enjoy working with a diverse group of corrections professionals. I would be honored to serve again as your MACPO Secretary and look forward to the opportunity.
MACPO and American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) Partnership
The APPA Leadership Institute provides community corrections professionals with a fundamental understanding of leadership within the community corrections area. This course serves those from all different backgrounds and cultures. For more information on what this course has to offer, as well as other information about APPA please visit their website at
http://www.appa-net.org/eweb/DynamicPage.aspx?webcode=Leadership-Institutes&site=APPA-3
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MACPO President
Jason Anderson It seems like just a month or two ago that I drafted my first report as your MACPO President. Yet here I am, almost a year later, writing my final update. Like sands through the hourglass… It’s been a heckova year. Probation offices have settled back into some sort of normalcy as the pandemic (hopefully?) dissolved. While the location of our work may have fluctuated over the last few years, the work itself remained constant. Someone asked me recently to identify the biggest challenge that our industry contents with. Several things came to my mine. Dealing with difficult clients, those with significant mental health and/or chemical health issues, the lack of adequate resources – these are the quick answers that rose immediately to my consciousness. Yet, after some careful reflection my answer was this: There seems to be a pretty big disconnect between what we actually do and the public’s perception of what we do and what we should be doing. I’ve sort of jokingly said to people before that our department, “fights crime and saves souls.” It has a nice ring to it and I enjoy the way those two tasks seem sort of contradictory at first blush. With any bit of humor, there is typically a bit of truth within it. And the more I think about it – I believe an argument could be made that fighting crime and saving souls is exactly what we’re all about. There has been a lot of discussion at the legislature this session about pubic safety – driven in part by spikes in violent crime and the budget surplus that could be leveraged to address it. The solution seems evident to those of us in the crime fightin’ & soul savin’ business…let’s adequately fund community corrections for a change. At the time of this writing, it remains to be seen what the lawmakers will settle on. I will note that we are closer than we’ve been in almost 30 years to seeing significant reform to our community corrections funding. That’s a good thing. I cannot thank you all enough for the opportunity you’ve given me to represent the work that you do for the last year. The world is led by those who show up, and your MACPO board (and its committee members) are doing a remarkable job of meeting the needs for county probation officers. I’ve been humbled and honored to serve beside them and to represent the work that you do for your communities. Respectfully, Jason Anderson
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