The Tri-County Community Corrections (TCCC) Board met this past week for their first board meeting of 2022. The agenda began with the election of officers, and the officers will remain the same for the upcoming year. Polk County Commissioner Warren Strandell will remain the Chair, Commissioner Steve Bommersbach of Norman County will remain the Vice-Chair, and Commissioner Ron Weiss of Red Lake County will remain the Secretary.
The next item on the agenda was the approval of the monthly statistics report. Tri-County Community Corrections Executive Director Andrew Larson noted with the Northwest Regional Corrections Center (NWRCC) population reduction, the jail numbers are down significantly compared to previous months. The average daily number of inmates for December was 125 compared to around 175 when the jail is fully staffed. The board approved the monthly statistics unanimously.
Larson also provided an update on how the NWRCC population reduction plan has been going. “I just made the board aware of what measures have been taken thus far and talked a little bit about how many applications we’ve received and how many interviews we have conducted,” said Larson. “We also discussed what our out-of-county cost is because we are housing some of our inmates in Pennington County right now to keep our numbers more manageable. With all things COVID-19, that is impacting us, so it probably was best we reduced our jail numbers when we did because we are starting to see an impact on some of our employees as well as our inmates.”
The next item on the agenda was Personnel Issues, and Larson said there was one key difference with the report this month. “For the first time in a long time, we had no resignations to report,” said Larson. “That was great news for us. We also had a few promotions and several new hires, so this was a much better report than we normally give the board.”
The board then heard a Compensation and Staffing Study conducted by Mark Goldberg of DDA Human Resources Inc. The purpose of the study was for an outside source to come in and rate each position within the department and offer a new salary compensation structure that Tri-County Community Corrections may implement. Larson said the study was very beneficial. “With all of the turnover that we’ve had, we wanted to get an outsider’s perspective and get an idea for some of the contributing factors that we’re seeing when it comes to the challenges we’re facing,” said Larson. “They interviewed several of our agency staff and then presented it to the board so that we can be aware and have an idea of what we can potentially do better to make the work environment satisfactory.” The presentation was informational, and no action was needed from the board.
There was then the reviewal and approval of a Law Enforcement Labor Services Collective Bargaining Agreement effective now until December 31, 2024. Larson shared some details and changes with the agreement. “That is our contract with our jail correction officers and juvenile workers,” said Larson. “The board did approve the contract, and it calls for a 3.25% cost of living adjustment, and there were also a few changes to vacation accrual and longevity pay.”
The following two items on the agenda were slight changes to the TCCC Employee Handbook and Cost of Living Adjustments for the Non-Collective Bargaining Employees. The board approved the changes unanimously.
The last item on the agenda was for the board to approve Tri-County Community Corrections to receive bids to salvage a 2006 Chevrolet Van. The board approved the request. The next meeting will take place in February.
