The Tri-County Corrections Board met on Monday at the Northwest Regional Correction Center conference room.
MONTHLY STATISTICS REPORT
The meeting began with Executive Director Andrew Larson presenting the monthly reports from November to the board. The Correction Center had a daily population of 146 inmates (123 males and 23 females). The year-to-date average inmate population is 168.
The most common cases for incarceration for November included 39 probation violations, 27 DWIs, 11 for domestic assault, and 11 failed to appear in court. “Our numbers of late have been down, and some of that is because our Mahnomen County numbers have been a bit lower,” said Larson, “Some of our local numbers have also been down. To be honest, I think it’s a good thing when our numbers are down. It’s much easier to manage a facility from a jail management perspective, with 140 inmates versus 180.” The total monthly revenue collected by the corrections center was in the amount of $97,923.
In November, the Juvenile Center held a daily average of seven inmates (4 non-member county, three member county). It also saw 12 cases with an average caseload of 11 per day.
JUVENILE CENTER UPDATES
During the November board meeting, Larson had announced that the secure detention portion of the Juvenile Center would potentially be re-opened by mid-December. Since then, there have been two untimely resignations from staff members, and the Juvenile Center is now not fully staffed, which will put the re-opening of the secure detention side on hold.
“This puts us behind the 8-ball because it takes time to get people hired and get them trained because they are working with adamant kids,” said Larson, “Not having secure detention has made the management of difficult behavior that much more difficult because we can’t move a child to secure detention who may be exhibiting behavioral problems.”
After discussion with the board, Larson explained that January is a possible timeline for a “soft opening” of the secure detention side of the facility, where the new staff will get trained to operate in secure detention. “We will have the option to move secure kids from nonsecure if their behavior warrants,” said Larson, “I think this will serve a couple of purposes; I think it will make the management purposes for the kids easier because this would allow consequences to be a factor in behavior and right now kids don’t believe they have consequences.” Larson also believes the reacquisition of the detention side will also help staff and how they can deal with challenging behaviors that are presented.
NWRCC CONTRACTS AND AGREEMENTS
The board approved the renewal of the Dancing Sky Area Chore services contract agreement, a one-year contract where the NWRCC will be reimbursed for units of service from inmates (hours worked) up to $15,000.
“The Land of The Dancing Sky funds a program for anyone 60 years of age or older,” said Larson, “This allows us to do outside chore services, which consists of lawn raking, taking leaves out of gutters, and minor maintenance work around homes to keep people in their homes for as long as possible.”
The board also approved the Summit Food Service Agreement Amendment. During the budget discussion earlier this year, Larson had predicted that meal costs for inmates would be increased by 8% based on the consumer price index. This contract helps mitigate some of the decrease in cost per meal. The facility will now pay a 6% increase in food costs in 2024.
The final item the board approved was the acceptance of Gordon Dale to take the Financial Audit Services for the Correction Center.
