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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPRISON BOARD MINUTES January 2026 FRANKLIN COUNTY PRISON BOARD MINUTES Franklin County Administration Building January 13, 2026 Present: Bob Ziobrowski, Commissioner Hon. Shawn Meyers, President Judge Harold Wissinger, Controller Ben Sites, Sheriff Ian Brink, District Attorney Carrie Gray, County Administrator Heather Franzoni, Warden Doug Wilburne, Probation Chief John Thierwechter, Asst County Administrator David Sunderland, FCJ Deputy Warden Geoffrey Willet, Probation Deputy Chief Ellen Eckert, Pre-Release Supervisor Michelle Weller, FCJ Deputy Warden Jeffrey Scott, FCJ Deputy Warden Rebekah Reigner, Court Administrator Kayla Stoner, Probation Supervisor I. The meeting was called to order by Controller Wissinger at 8:30 AM. II. Public Comment A. There was no public comment III. Nomination and Election of Prison Board Officers A. Sheriff Sites was elected to be President. Commissioner Ziobrowski made the nomination, Controller Wissinger seconded the motion and Sheriff Sites was unanimously elected. B. Controller Wissinger was elected to be Secretary. Commissioner Ziobrowski made the nomination, Sheriff Sites seconded the motion and Controller Wissinger was unanimously elected. IV. Minutes for the December 2025 meetings were discussed. A. Controller Wissinger moved to accept the minutes, Commissioner Ziobrowski seconded the motion and the minutes were unanimously approved. V. Warden’s Report A. There were 119 commitments and 121 discharges in December. B. The average daily population was 231.6 with 203 males and 29 females C. The recidivism rate for all commitments was 51%. The recidivism rate for only those committed on new charges was 46%. D. A snapshot look at statistics for December showed there were 89 sentenced and 174 unsentenced inmates. There were four inmates being held for other counties and two federal inmates. There were 31 inmates on approved temporary absences to other facilities and 11 awaiting transport to the state institution. E. There was $1,476.95 in revenue from Room & Board fees and $1,095.94 collected from Central Booking fees. F. The average length of stay for those released in December was 83.6 days. The average length of stay for the year was 57.8 days. G. There were 39 inmates held in other county jails, with a total expense of $82,590. H. Three inmates from other agencies were housed at FCJ in December, for a total of $8,649. I. PrimeCare’s medical report was presented. There were 1186 sick calls. There were nine trips to the ER and three hospital admissions for 10 days. There were 735 mental health contacts. There were no inmates at Torrance State Hospital and one inmate awaiting transfer. There was one inmate on constant observation. There were 56 in the Medication Assisted Therapy (MAT) program. There were 144 on the MH caseload and an additional 29 with SMI diagnoses. There were 18 commitments placed on detox protocol. There were four pregnant inmates. J. November’s expenditures and budget were discussed. K. Controller Wissinger moved to accept Warden’s report, Commissioner Ziobrowski seconded the motion and the report was unanimously approved. VI. Intermediate Punishment report A. The Pre-Release department received 45 intakes in December and processed 30 discharges B. There were five inmates placed into employment. C. There were 1520 hours of community service completed. D. The Drug and Alcohol RIP/DCIP program had 96 offenders. There were three successful discharges in December. E. The Pre-Trial Supervision program had 61 offenders. F. The Sex Offender Program had 44. G. There were 32 offenders on the Mental Health caseload. H. The Electronic Monitoring Program had eight offenders. I. There were 19 on the Intensive Monitoring Program caseload. J. There were 17 participants in the Good Wolf Treatment Court. K. There were 17 offenders detained and there were 18 that were given alternative sanctions. L. There were 171 daily jail bed days saved by using the alternative sanctions of intensive/electronic supervision (589 days), DCIP/D&A RIP (2505 days) and pre-trial release (1718 days). M. The Community Release program collected $13,143 in December and the Probation Department collected $177,679.84 VII. Jail Expenses A. Commissioner Ziobrowski moved that the jail’s current bills be paid, Controller Wissinger seconded the motion and the motion was unanimously approved. VIII. Old Business A. Warden Franzoni provided a staffing update. There are 51 FT officer positions and four PT officers. Basic Training academies will be held in January and February. B. Warden Franzoni gave a facilities update. The jail will be partnering with Franklin Together to sponsor a Community Resource Fair for inmates. The security system upgrade’s submittal has been signed and the construction start date is pending. Sheriff Sites asked if the upgrade would impact operations. Warden Franzoni added that the impact will be mitigated by both having units currently shut down and by administration dividing up the task of supervising the vendor. IX. New Business A. Commissioner Ziobrowski noted that the Commissioners’ Office had received a plethora of emails regarding staffing and operations, and that all emails are reviewed. He asked if the recent publicity from the union was negatively impacting staff and operations. Warden Franzoni said that jail staff still take pride in the jail and she is working to make sure the publicity is not taking away from that. Commissioner Ziobrowski noted that the county’s press release was good at outlining the facts. Sheriff Sites added that the public statement was factual and thanked the warden and the jail staff. B. The 2026 meeting schedule was discussed. Controller Wissinger reported that the January – June dates had been advertised per requirement. The group discussed modifying the schedule for July – December. Sheriff Sites asked if there was any reason the meetings must be held on Tuesdays. Deputy Weller said she looked through previous years’ minutes and that the meetings had been held on different days. Sheriff Sites suggested amending the meeting schedule so that the meetings are on a different day and that the courthouse is added to the rotation. He said the discussion could be held at next month’s meeting, when more Board members will be present. C. Sheriff Sites said that this was the first Prison Board meeting that Commissioner Flannery was unable to attend. He added that Commissioner Flannery had been a good chairman and that he looked forward to continuing his good work. X. The next meeting is scheduled for February 10, 2026 at 8:30AM at the Franklin County Jail. Controller Wissinger moved to end the meeting, Commissioner Ziobrowski seconded the motion, and the meeting was adjourned.