The Regional Corrections Board met on Monday, December 16, at 9:00 a.m. at the Polk County Justice Center. The meeting began with approval of the November 2024 meeting minutes, and then Executive Director Andrew Larson reviewed the Monthly Statistical Reports for all departments. The November Population Statistics showed that there was a month-to-date average of 134.40 at the Northwest Regional Correction Center for November, and that brought the year-to-date average to 142.45. The top offenses for the month of November were Parole/Probation Violations, DWI, Failure to appear, Controlled Substances, and Assault.
Next on the agenda were personnel issues, which Director Larson said are starting to stabilize. “There was not as much on the personnel front as we have seen in previous months, so, overall, relatively short list,” says Larson. “We had a few new appointments; I had a couple of promotions out of the jail ranks, a couple of terminations or resignations, and also had some staff recently pass their probationary period,” Larson says all in all it was a pretty good month.
Larson also updated the board on the request for proposals for NWRCC/RRVJC Pharmaceuticals. Corrections have been using Thrifty White and are happy with them. This year, though, it was decided to get proposals from other Pharmaceuticals as well. As of December 13, Larson has received two proposals and is hoping to get one more. The board will receive recommendations regarding the proposals at the January meeting.
Next up was a request for the board to approve the 2025 Wage/Salary Schedule and Insurance Contribution Increase for Non-Union Positions. “In addition to approving the Cost of Living adjustment and adjustments to the wage grid, they also approved a $75/per month increase for insurance contributions,” says Larson. “So, effective on January 1, the insurance contribution will be up to $1,090 per month.” The board unanimously approved the 2025 Wage/Salary Schedule and Insurance Contribution Increase for Non-Union Positions.
This fall, Larson told the board about some inmate communication changes coming in 2025. Larson updated the board today. “The FCC issued a ruling earlier this year that limits the amount an inmate can be charged for a phone call,” says Larson. “So, they are really bringing that number down, and it is more than just phone calls. It’s any inmate communications service,” Larson says. Tri-County Corrections won’t feel the changes’ effects financially until around April of 2026.
There were quite a few contracts and agreements on the agenda today for approval being that we are at the end of 2024. Village Family Service does family assessments as part of RRVJC Behavioral Evaluations. This was just a renewal of an existing agreement, the only change being the dates, January 2025 to December 2026 and a change of location. The board approved this contract unanimously.
Tri-County Corrections uses Gordon Dale, CPA for Financial Audit Services and the board approved an increase in Dales Contract of $200 for the Audit for 2024.
Summit Food Services, which is the food service provider for inmate dining as well as employees, had an amendment made to their agreement. “Just a renewal of that agreement; we did see a four percent increase in cost associated with that contract.” Larson says the new contract for Summit Food Services will begin on January 29, 2025. The board approved of the contract amendment unanimously.
The board approved the Polk County Social Services: Host County Contracts for Year 2025 for both Residential Services and Transitional Program Services with the only change being the contract dates.
The Board was asked to approve the Probation Office Lease Agreement for 2025 for the City of McIntosh. “We continued our contract with the City of McIntosh,” said Larson. “We have a satellite office there, so that agreement was extended for an additional year.”
Larson went on to ask for the board’s approval of the MN Teamsters Union Local No. 320 and TCCC Collective Bargaining Agreement. This represents the probation department. “I went through and highlighted some of the changes there, the cost of living adjustment, the 4%, the wage grid, the insurance contribution, very much line up with what we saw out of the non-union employees,” says Larson. “ I think some of the primary differences are severance will change a little bit, they bargained for money being automatically deposited into a health savings account for anyone who leaves as part of a severance package.” The board unanimously approved the MN Teamsters Union Agreement.
The board entered into an agreement with CogMN Consulting LLC to score probation interviews. “In order to ensure compliance or best practices, making sure that the agents are adhering to motivational interviewing standards, one of the things we do is actually having interviews scored,” says Larson. “It has to be a certified scorer, so we entered into an agreement with CogMN Consultion LLC, which was formed by Dale Arnold, formerly our Deputy Chief Probation Officer.” Larson says Arnold will continue scoring for Tri-County Corrections. Typically, about one staff member a month is interviewed and scored, so probably about 12 tapes will be scored, and each will be billed at $250.
The last contract is for Dancing Sky Area Agency on Aging “They provide funding for our chore services program for calendar year 2025,” says Larson. “No significant changes in that contract other than we did see a little bit of a reduction in the total number of units of service that can be provided as some of the funding from Covid has dried up, and we are starting to see some of that being an impact in some of our other contracts as well.” The board approved the contract unanimously.
The Board approved the Regional Corrections Board Meetings for the Year 2025 and also approved the Year-End Bill Payment Pre-Authorization. “This gives us the ability to pay any bill between now and the end of the year that would typically come before the board for approval; they gave us authorization to go ahead and get those paid.”
The meeting was adjourned, and Director Larson took time to thank two members of the Regional Corrections board for their service as this was their final meeting. Steven Bommersbach, Vice Chair from Norman County, and Ron Weiss, Secretary from Red Lake County, are vacating their chairs as of the end of 2024. They were presented with a cake and many thanks from the other board members, Director Larson, and others.
