Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutPRISON BOARD MINUTES February 2022 FRANKLIN COUNTY PRISON BOARD MINUTES Franklin County Jail February 8, 2022 Present: John Flannery, Commissioner Bob Ziobrowski, Commissioner David Keller, Commissioner Bill Bechtold, Warden Hon. Shawn Meyers, President Judge Dane Anthony, Sheriff Etta Rotz, Chief Deputy Controller Doug Wilburne, Probation Chief John Thierwechter, Assistant County Administrator Ellen Eckert, Pre-Release Supervisor Ben Sites, Deputy Sheriff Lionel Pierre, FCJ Deputy Warden Jeffrey Scott, FCJ Deputy Warden Michelle Weller, FCJ Deputy Warden Geoffrey Willet, Probation Deputy Chief I. The meeting was called to order by Commissioner Flannery at 8:30 AM. II Public Comment A. There was no public comment III. Minutes for the January 2022 meeting were discussed. A. Judge Meyers moved to accept the minutes, Commissioner Ziobrowski seconded the motion and the minutes were unanimously approved. IV. Warden’s Report A. There were 128 commitments and 129 discharges in January. B. The average daily population was 355.8 with an average of 293 males and 63 females. C. The recidivism rate was 47% when looking at all new commitments that had ever been incarcerated at FCJ and the recidivism rate was 34% when looking at only those commitments that had been incarcerated at FCJ within the past three years. D. At a snapshot view at the beginning of February there were 114 sentenced and 229 unsentenced inmates. There were 20 inmates on Approved Temporary Absence status. Thirty-two were pending transfer to other facilities, with 26 of those pending transfer to SCI. E. There was $12,477 collected in total revenue for January. F. The average length of stay (ALOS) for those discharged in January was 105.7 days. G. There was one inmate housed in Centre. H. A breakdown of the demographic statistics for January indicated that males made up 72% of the population, 75% of the population were white, 41% of the population was between the ages of 26-39, 75% were single, 3% were military veterans and 83% had at least their high school diploma or GED. I. PrimeCare’s medical report was presented. There were 908 sick calls. There were 28 outside medical appointments and six trips to the ER. There were 770 mental health contacts. There were 43 inmates on suicide watch. There were three inmates that required 1:1 observation. There were no inmates at Torrance State Hospital. There were five participants in the Sex Offender’s Treatment Program. There were 57 in the Medication Assisted Therapy (MAT) program. There were 236 on the MH caseload and an additional 38 with SMI diagnoses. There were 47 commitments placed on detox protocol. There were two pregnant inmates. Fifty-two inmates were given the COVID vaccine. J. December 2021’s expenditures were discussed. Warden Bechtold reported that supplies will be ordered earlier than normal due to expected delays. K. Commissioner Flannery asked if the MH numbers were typical and Warden Bechtold answered that those statistics have been consistent. Warden Bechtold said that while the MH Co-Responder program does a great job at preventing a number of mentally ill inmates from being incarcerated, the jail still sees a lot of inmates with mental health issues that are brought to jail because there are no other options. These inmates are also commonly hard to place in appropriate home plans due to the lack of mental health housing and programming. Judge Meyers reported that he asked the Grants department to evaluate state treatment courts to assess if a mental health court would be a viable option for Franklin County. L. Judge Meyers asked for an update on the status of DOC transfers. Warden Bechtold answered that the jail has only one transport scheduled for February and it is for 17 inmates. M. Judge Meyers asked how the commitment statistic was calculated and Warden Bechtold answered that it included all new commitments after their arraignments. N. Sheriff Anthony moved to accept the Warden’s report, Commissioiner Ziobrowski seconded the motion and the report was unanimously approved. V. Intermediate Punishment report A. The Community Release department received 13 intakes and had 21 releases. B. There were no inmates placed into employment in January, due to the Work Release program being suspended. The program has since reopened and has 12 out to work so far in February. C. There were 2520 hours of community service completed. D. The Pre-Trial Release program had 68 offenders. E. The Drug and Alcohol RIP/DCIP program had 73 offenders. There was one successful discharge and four unsuccessful discharges. Judge Meyers asked if the unsuccessful discharges were due to new charges or relapse driven and Chief Wilburne answered that all four were due to relapsing and not due to new charges. F. The Sexual Offender Program had 47. G. There were 24 offenders on the Mental Health caseload. H. The Electronic Monitoring Program had 15 offenders. I. There were 134 jail days saved by using the alternative sanctions of electronic monitoring (451 days), DCIP/D&A RIP (1681 days), intensive supervision (59 days) and pre-trial release (1974 days). J. There were 10 offenders detained in January and 13 given alternative sanctions. K. The Probation Department collected $219,726 in January. VI. Old Business A. Warden Bechtold reported that inmate community services projects resumed on January 17th and social visitation and the work release program reopened on January 31st. B. Warden Bechtold provided a staffing update. There are currently 14 officer vacancies. VII. New Business A. None VIII. The next meeting is scheduled for March 8, 2022 at 8:30AM at the Franklin County Administration Building. Commissioner Ziobrowski moved to end the meeting, Commissioner Keller seconded the motion and the meeting was adjourned.