The Tri-County Regional Community Corrections Board held a regular board meeting in the Polk County Justice Center on Monday morning.
MONTHLY DEPARTMENTS STATISTICAL REPORTS REVIEW
After the Call to Order, the board began with the approval of the monthly statistics review and a Statistical Reports Review of all departments for the month of November. Executive Director Andrew Larson reported the jail had 150 inmates, with 47 in for per diems. Their DOC work release numbers had six inmates, and U.S. Marshall’s inmates were at 15. They had 154 inmates for their average daily population for the month, with many still being there for awaiting trials, 36 for controlled substance use, and eight for drug possession. They were just under eight for DOC numbers and just shy of 13 inmates for their average daily population for U.S. Marshalls. The Probation Department had 81 new cases, with 58 being felonies.
PERSONNEL REPORTS
The board then received an update on Personnel issues from Executive Director Andrew Larson, who reported they had four new Juvenile Custody Officers, Brandon Wittmayer began on November 21 as a Part-Time Custody Officer, and Nathan Sloop was hired on Monday as a Full-Time Custody Officer. They had also hired Lindsay Lessard Lessard as a new Corrections Secretary/Clerk II, who also began on Monday.
Larson also reported that Ted Krmpotich had passed his Probationary period on December 6 and that Brandon Wittmayer was now eligible to pass his after recommendations and being there for one year.
Larson also reported that despite them hiring Melinda Anchondo as a Juvenile Custody Officer on November 14, she had then given her letter of resignation two days later after finding the job was not for her. Corrections Officer Ashley Cordova had also submitted her letter of resignation after two years of service to the Center and would officially resign on Wednesday, December 28.
Larson noted several terminations, such as Part-Time Corrections Officer Jessica Volla on November 16, at the end of her recommendation period. Corrections Officer Leonardo Carrizales was terminated after they had discovered some background information about him. Larson also reported that Zachery Holter was hired as a full-time Juvenile Custody Officer on December 5 but was terminated soon after for not coming in any time after his first day. Jacy Knock had been offered a position but withdrew their acceptance before her start date.
With these changes and resignations, Larson noted they were down one full-time person and one part-time person at the Juvenile Center, so they would have to look things over for staffing again. For the Corrections Center, they were two full-time and two part-time positions short for the jail and were advertising for them but had only seen a trickle of applicants.
RESOLUTION-LOST CHECK
The board then heard from Larson about two lost checks. The first was an expense check for Corrections Officer Hannah Cordes, while the other was a payment check for the vendor, Aflac. The board approved the two checks, so the warrants for the checks would be reissued in both cases.
CONTRACTS/AGREEMENTS
The board then began discussions for the approval of multiple contracts. The first was a contract with the City of McIntosh about a Probation Office Lease Agreement from January 1, 2023, to December 31, 2024. Deputy Director Paul Bissonette explained there was no change in the contract, with them paying $175 per month for the use of the office. The board approved the agreement unanimously.
Village Family Service Contract
The next contract was with the Village Family Service Contract with the Red River Valley Juvenile Center about Family Assessments. Larson explained it would be a two-year contract for behavioral evaluations, as the Center’s staff was not qualified to complete these evaluations, so the Village Family would complete them in their place. The board approved the contract unanimously.
City of East Grand Forks Lease Agreement
The next contract was a Lease Agreement with the City of East Grand Forks about their EGF Probation Satellite Office for their City Hall Building. “We’ve leased an office space in East Grand Forks for two to three years now. It’s been a really good relationship for us. It’s nice to be in a city-owned building,” Executive Director Andrew Larson explained. “I think it also meets the needs of the City of East Grand Forks too, so there’s some continuity in the businesses residing within city-owned buildings. My board approved the renewal of that contract with the City of East Grand Forks.” Larson explained it was 1,223 square feet of office space at the building, with the only change in the contract being an 8% increase to $10.80 per square foot for a one-year lease at the City Hall Building that would begin on January 1. The board approved the agreement unanimously.
Sanford Behavioral Health Center Agreement
The next was an agreement with the Sanford Behavior Health Center for their Northwest Regional Corrections Center Inmate Mental Health Psychiatric Services. Larson explained they had entered the agreement with Sanford Behavioral Health to supplement services they were receiving with Alluma when the needs of the jail were greater than the capacity of Alluma’s staff. This allows all the inmates to continue to be seen and have their medication as quickly as possible and in a timely manner in case there is any delay in Alluma’s services. Larson explained the agreement was a two-year agreement to provide behavioral health service but, otherwise, was the same as last year. The board approved the agreement unanimously.
Gordon Dale, CPA
The next was a contract with CPA Gordan Dale on Financial Audit Services for the 2022 Calendar Year to ensure the board was utilizing funds responsibly for the Center and give a report to them at the end of the third quarter of 2023. The board approved the contract unanimously.
Dancing Sky Area Agency on Aging
The final contract was with Dancing Sky Area Agency on Aging (Chore Services) for 2023. Larson reported that the contract was a one-year contract for 475 units for $14,339 with $30.18.7 per unit. The board approved the contract unanimously.
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS
The board then discussed an update on the reopening of the Red River Valley Juvenile Center from Larson. Larson noted that they had started Juvenile Center-specific training for new members of the Center, and existing employees would begin next week. He reported that the HVAC system was currently on the roof of the Center, and now electrical and plumbing had to come in and complete their work. Larson noted that their goal was to reopen the Center by January 9, but he wasn’t optimistic it would be obtainable with all of the checks the contractors would have to complete and limited staff due to the holidays. “We’ve unfortunately encountered lots of delays that are outside of the ability of anybody here to control, largely with the significant delay in the delivery of the HVAC system. That is now onsite and is being installed. We had a recent construction meeting, and one of the issues raised is that many contractors run scaled-down or skeleton crews during the holidays, so that may result in some of the HVAC system installation being delayed,” Larson explained. “There’s also the coordination of multiple different inspections that have to be completed before the Department of Corrections would give up authorization to occupy the building.” Larson also mentioned that they still needed to ensure they adequately staffed the building before they could open it again after they had several officers resigned this month. The board hopes to have the Center opened by January 9, but if they are unable to do so, they plan to push its reopening back to mid-January.
Bureau of Prisons Interim Monitoring Report
The board then heard an Interim Monitoring Report from Larson that they had an Interim Inspection by the Bureau of Prisons, and they found no deficiencies with the Center, and they would be back for another inspection on January 10.
AMC Resolution Request
The board then discussed a Resolution Request from the Association of Minnesota Counties (AMC) for a Community Supervision Formula. Larson explained that the AMC was bringing a draft resolution asking the counties to support the AMC’s efforts in modifying the current funding mechanism for Community Corrections within the state. “AMC is going to be proposing a modification to the current funding mechanism for Community Corrections within the state. In addition to that, they’re also going to request increased funding through all three delivery systems. Minnesota is kind of unique in that we have multiple delivery systems. Our jurisdiction is a Community Corrections at County, meaning that the county itself delivers the Correctional Services. We provide felony supervision all the way down to misdemeanor supervision,” Larson explained. “One of the parts of this legislative push is they’re also doing a work group study to try to come up with a recommendation for the base-level of services, and that’s going to drive a big portion of this budget increase that they’re asking for.”
The board finished the meeting by approving the invoices and bills for the county for November, which they approved unanimously.
The board will meet again on Monday, January 9, 2023, at the Polk County Justice Center.
