The Regional Correction Board met on Monday, June 9, at 9:00 a.m. at the Polk County Justice Center.
Department Statistics
Executive Director Andrew Larson updated the board on department statistics for May, starting with inmate numbers as of this Monday morning. “It was a pretty busy weekend in the jail. So, this morning I came in and we had a total count of 146,” says Larson. “We did not have our monthly numbers for the jail due to a staff absence last month, so we will cover those at next month’s meeting.”
Of the 146 inmates on Monday morning, Larson says 69 were per diems. Five were U.S. Bureau of Prisons inmates, and nine were immigration and customs (ICE) inmates. Mahnomen County numbers were up at 18, and the Department of Corrections numbers were also high at 12. Local numbers are holding steady a little lower than what would have been seen five years ago, Larson said, with 77 inmates from member counties Polk, Red Lake, and Norman Counties. U.S. Marshall numbers were sitting at 24.
The Juvenile Center numbers are staying pretty high, and that is good, Larson says. “This morning, we had a total count of nine. We had two adolescents on the secure side of our facilities. On the non-secure side, or our residential side, there were seven kids this morning.”
The Transition Program continues to see high numbers as 10 adolescents were served in May. In May, the ages served were between 12 and 16, with eight males and 2 females. The average caseload so far in 2025 is eight.
Personnel Issues
Personnel issues seem to fluctuate at the Correction Center, but have held pretty well for the first half of the year. “On the personnel side, we had a few new appointments, a few resignations. Overall, nothing really earth-shattering,” says Larson. “We continue to see a little of that turnover within the jail and the juvenile center. We did have some movement, though, so we are hopeful we are going to continue to trend in the right direction.”
There are currently a few positions open in the jail for Full-time Correction Officers, and an open position for a full-time Hybrid Officer who would work with both the Jail and the Juvenile Center. The board approved the personnel issues which contained three new appointments, four resignations, a general leave request and one termination.
Contracts/Agreements
There was one contract brought to the board today for approval. “I did have the board approve one contract with Life Recovery Psychiatry,” says Larson. “As I mentioned to the board, the former jail nurse has started her own practice and will be leaving Public Health, and she does desire to continue to provide services as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner.”
The board approve unanimously of entering into an agreement with Kelsey Helgeson of Life Recovery Psychiatry, LLC. The contract was supported by Public Health and makes a lot of sense since Helgeson has been the primary provider for the inmates for quite some time. The contract is for $79/hr. on case to case bases. This is the same rate she had while with Public Health. The contract will run from June 9, 2025 to December 31, 2025.
Legislative Updates
Larson updated the board on some legislative changes coming. The first update involved a program that has long been used in the jail, but Larson says it was not a surprise. “That has to do with the elimination of funding for our Sentence-to-Service program,” says Larson. “That will be effective July 1. We kind of saw this coming when the Governor released his first draft budget, which called for the elimination of funding for Sentence-to-Service Programs throughout the state.”
Larson says there was some push in the senate to maintain the Sentence-to-Service Programs, as it is a popular program, especially at the county level across the state, says Larson. Unfortunately, it was eliminated. “Basically, what that means is it puts it to the counties. You know, if this is something you want to continue to fund, you are going to have to do it without any kind of funding assistance from the Department of Corrections or, more specifically, the state.”
The state used to fund 50% of the program, but this year, it dropped to 25% and will be eliminated on July 1. Larson says he will keep the program running for the rest of this year so that they can see if they can afford to continue it when a new year starts.
There are also changes being made within the Probation Department due to legislative actions. Effective July 1, 2025, the Subsidy Formula will change. “This is what we use to get funding from the state for our probation department,” says Larson. “The big change is that one of the core data pieces that they use to determine that funding amount is based on just kind of a one-day snapshot of what our probation population is.” Larson says the original legislation called for just one year of data, and now they are going to use three years of data, which is then averaged. “The benefit is there. Each year, the population kind of fluctuates a little bit,” says Larson. “Using a three-year window to kind of come up with this number helps offset and stabilize that funding.”
Supervision fees for the Probation Department were also slated to be eliminated in 2027, but that has changed for the better, Larson says. “They will delay the elimination of supervision fees. They have now extended that out to 2029, so we will continue to collect supervision fees.”
Miscellaneous
Larson also updated the board on some grant applications during Monday’s meeting. The first one was the MCIT Jail Camera Grant Application. “There was a jail camera grant application through MCIT, which is our insurance provider,” says Larson. “We did submit a grant application for that, hopefully to allow us to implement a body-worn camera program within our facility. It’s a competitive grant application, so there is no guarantee that we will get that, but I did put forth an application.” The grant application asked for $21,000 to implement body-worn cameras for the jail and juvenile center.
There are a couple of grant applications being written for Community Crime Intervention and Prevention Programs. “That is something that is offered through the Office of Justice Programs,” says Larson. “That particular funding pool currently funds our pre-trial supervision program, so we are going to put forth an application to continue that initiative and also something to expand our transition program,” Larson says they will put forth two separate applications. You can only be awarded one.
The last item on the agenda was to talk about the 10th Anniversary Celebration of DWI Court in Polk, Norman, and Red Lake Counties. “Hard to believe but it has been 10 years since our DWI Court Programs have been in effect in all three counties, Polk, Norman, and Red Lake,” says Larson. “They are doing 10th Anniversary Celebrations, so I informed the board of that.”
The 10th Anniversary Celebration for Norman County will be Thursday, July 31, 2025, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Norman County Courthouse at 16 3rd Ave. East, Ada, MN 56510
The 10th Anniversary Celebration for Red Lake County will be on Wednesday, September 10, 2025, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Red Lake County Courthouse at 124 Main Avenue NW, Red Lake Falls, MN 56750.
The 10th Anniversary Celebration for Polk County will be on Wednesday, September 3, 2025, from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. at the Polk County Courthouse, 816 Marin Ave. Crookston, MN 56716.
