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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPRISON BOARD MINUTES May 2026 FRANKLIN COUNTY PRISON BOARD MINUTES Franklin County Jail May 12, 2026 Present: Ben Sites, Sheriff/Chairman Bob Ziobrowski, Commissioner Dean Hort, Commissioner Harold Wissinger, Controller Ian Brink, District Attorney Hon. Shawn Meyers, President Judge Heather Franzoni, FCJ Warden Doug Wilburne, Probation Chief Geoffrey Willet, Probation Deputy Chief Kayla Stoner, Probation Supervisor Ellen Eckert, Pre-Release Supervisor David Sunderland, FCJ Deputy Warden Jeffrey Scott, FCJ Deputy Warden Michelle Weller, FCJ Deputy Warden I. The meeting was called to order by Sheriff Sites at 8:30 AM. II. Sheriff Sites moved to change the order of the agenda so that the expense report approval and the new business items are discussed before the APO report, Commissioner Horst seconded the motion and the agenda order was changed. III. Public Comment A. There was no public comment IV. Minutes for the April 2026 meetings were discussed. A. Controller Wissinger moved to accept the minutes, Commissioner Horst seconded the motion and the minutes were unanimously approved. V. Warden’s Report A. There were 177 commitments and 149 discharges in April. B. The average daily population was 304 with 258 males and 48 females C. The recidivism rate for all commitments was 54%. The recidivism rate for only those committed on new charges was 40%. D. A snapshot look at statistics for April showed there were 111 sentenced and 203 unsentenced inmates. There were five inmates being held for other counties and six federal inmates. There were 40 inmates on approved temporary absences to other facilities and 13 awaiting transport to the state institution. E. There was $620.54 in revenue from Room & Board fees and $6,949.67 collected from Central Booking fees. F. The average length of stay for those released in April was 55.4 days. G. There were 45 inmates held in other county jails, with a total expense of $96,605. There were 31 inmates held for other agencies, with a total income of $23,022. H. PrimeCare’s medical report was presented. There were 1237 sick calls. There were 14 trips to the ER. There were four hospital admission for a total of 14 days. There were 843 mental health contacts. There were no inmates at Torrance State Hospital and no inmates awaiting transfer. There were three inmates on constant observation. There were 67 in the Medication Assisted Therapy (MAT) program. There were 168 on the MH caseload and an additional 42 with SMI diagnoses. There were 27 commitments placed on detox protocol. There was one pregnant inmate. I. A trendspotting report on the current inmate population showed that 65% were unsentenced, 67% were on the MH caseload and 13% were diagnosed with a Serious Mental Illness. J. March’s expenditures and budget were reviewed. K. Controller Wissinger moved to accept Warden’s report, Commissioner Ziobrowski seconded the motion and the report was unanimously approved. VI. Jail Expenses A. Controller Wissinger moved that the jail’s current bills be paid, Commissioner Ziobrowski seconded the motion and the motion was unanimously approved. VII. New Business = The board discussed the work release program A. Judge Meyers said that he asked for the discussion to be added to the agenda after Chief Wilburne raised concerns about the financial impact of housing work release inmates at another facility. Judge Meyers said he wanted to discuss the efficacy of the program in light of the ongoing operational issues. B. Chief Wilburne reported that the program currently had three female inmates (housed at FCJ) and 14 male inmates (house outside of FCJ). The average number of work release inmates prior to the closing of the housing unit was 25-30. Controller Wissinger asked why fewer inmates were on the program and Chief Wilburne answered that the number was limited to what room was available on the transport van. Sheriff Sites asked how many inmates were waiting to go to community employment, and Pre- Release Director Eckert answered fifteen. C. A look at this year’s first quarter showed the financial impact was $-18,960.18. This number was obtained by comparing the program’s overhead costs to the collected revenue. Overhead costs include staff salaries, travel expenses and bed day expenses. D. Chief Wilburne suggested possible solutions of moving work release inmates back to Franklin County or hiring a part-time coordinator to offset current staff overtime costs. Controller Wissinger asked if the program number would be higher if these inmates were returned to Franklin County and Chief Wilburne answered the number would be higher due to some having their own transportation to jobs. E. Warden Franzoni reported the jail would currently not be able to reopen the housing unit. She added that when selecting inmates to house out-of-county, only sentenced inmates were selected. Pre-trial inmates aren’t sent ATA so they wouldn’t have to be transported back and forth for court. If pre- sentenced inmates were housed in another facility, the transportation expenses would be another factor to consider. District Attorney Brink asked about moving the juvenile inmates to another facility. Warden Franzoni answered the cost would be $150 per inmate per day, as well as transport costs for court hearings. She added that moving the juveniles would not result in another housing unit being closed. F. Commissioner Ziobrowski asked about the non-monetary benefits of the work release program, specifically how participation impacts recidivism rates. He said he would like the board to look at the possibility of the long-term financial impact due to higher recidivism rates. Chief Wilburne answered that a comprehensive study would be challenging. Judge Meyers added that anecdotal information or a comparison to other counties could be used. G. Sheriff Sites concluded this discussion by stating that more information was needed. Chief Wilburne and Warden Franzoni will need to meet to further discuss. VIII. Intermediate Punishment report A. The Pre-Release department received 71 intakes in April and processed 34 discharges. B. There were nine inmates placed into employment. C. There were 1138 hours of community service completed. D. The Drug and Alcohol RIP/DCIP program had 90 offenders. There were eight successful discharges in April. E. The Pre-Trial Supervision program had 50 offenders. F. The Sex Offender Program had 39. G. There were 32 offenders on the Mental Health caseload. H. There were 19 on the Intensive Monitoring Program caseload. I. There were 18 participants in the Good Wolf Treatment Court. J. There were 12 offenders detained and there were 15 that were given alternative sanctions. K. There were 130 daily jail bed days saved by using the alternative sanctions of intensive/electronic supervision (570 days), DCIP/D&A RIP (1290 days), treatment court (450 days) and pre-trial release (1596 days). L. The Community Release program collected $12,814.43 in April and the Probation Department collected $243,880.06. IX. Old Business A. Warden Franzoni provided a staffing update. There are 53 FT officer positions filled. B. Warden Franzoni gave a facilities update. The jail received the official notice that it passed the state inspection. The contractors for the security upgrade have been completed work on three housing units. X. The next meeting is scheduled for June 9, 2026 at 8:30AM at the Franklin County Administration Building. Controller Wissinger moved to end the meeting, Commissioner Horst seconded the motion, and the meeting was adjourned.