Nikki Niles named director of DFO Community Corrections
The search for a new Dodge-Fillmore-Olmsted (DFO) Community Corrections director is complete and Nikki Niles has accepted the position. Her effective start date in this new role is May 24, 2021.
As DFO Community Corrections director, Niles will oversee all services and programming within the scope of the department to include:
- Probation and supervised release for both adults and juveniles.
- Victim Services and Safe Harbor.
- Intensive supervised release.
- Olmsted County Drug Court.
- Olmsted County Pretrial Services.
- Olmsted County Community Outreach.
“Niles will also continue to support the DFO Community Corrections leadership team in advancing efforts to improve the service we provide to the community,” said Olmsted County Deputy Administrator of Health, Housing, and Human Services Travis Gransee. “She will also work closely with other Health, Housing, and Human Services departments to ensure we are working across systems to best serve the public.”
Gransee noted that Niles’ innovative work style coupled with her ability to collaborate with stakeholders across justice and human service systems has helped design corrections programs to better serve our communities.
“Dodge, Fillmore, and Olmsted counties are implementing many innovative strategies in community corrections. I am confident that under Niles’ leadership, this important work will continue,” Gransee stated.
As DFO Community Corrections director, Niles brings a unique perspective given her previous experience and education.
Niles has worked at Olmsted County since April 2012. Her first role with the county was as a probation officer. Between 2012 and 2018, Niles assisted justice involved clients on probation and supervised release. In 2018, she was promoted to a probation officer specialist position and developed the Olmsted County Pretrial Program. Niles is currently the program manager for DFO Community Corrections’ new Diversity, Equity, and Community Outreach (DECO) team established in August 2020.
Prior to her time at Olmsted County, Niles served as a police officer with the East Lansing Police Department in Michigan from 2002 to 2012. She also was an instructor for the Mid-Michigan Police Academy at Lansing Community College from 2008 to 2012.
Niles has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Michigan State University and a master’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Cincinnati.
Niles’ new opportunity creates a vacancy in the leadership of Olmsted County’s DECO and Pretrial Services team. That program manager position will be posted and filled as soon as possible.
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Media Contact: Gretchen Williamson, Communications Coordinator, 507-328-6024