criminal mediation

Just over a week ago, 43 year-old Eugene Statelen was sentenced to eight years with the Department of Corrections with five years suspended on charges of assault with a weapon and assault on a peace officer.

Missoula Chief Deputy County Attorney Jason Marks said the first criminal mediation case was successful this week.

Missoula County Attorney Kirsten Pabst says her office is pursuing the possibility of using mediation in criminal cases, a process that may have never been used in Montana. "The legislature authorized criminal mediation in 2007 after they realized what great cost savings it was and how it helped lessen that burden on the county court docket in the civil cases," says Pabst...