The Tri-County Regional Corrections Board met earlier this week on Monday inside the Polk County Justice Center. The agenda included Personnel Issues, a Red River Juvenile Center Update, and a Budget draft for 2022.
The meeting began with Tri-County Community Corrections Executive Director Andrew Larson giving a breakdown of the jail numbers in August. The high for inmates in the jail per day in August was 192, the average was 178, and the Year-to-Date average was 173. The two biggest causes of arrest in August were Controlled Substances and Parole Violation.
Larson also gave an update on Personnel Issues, and while there are a fair number of promotions and positions that have been filled, there are still positions that will need to be addressed. Larson discussed how many positions still need to be filled and issues with resignations that are being received. “There is nothing specific we can put our finger on when it comes to the resignations we’re receiving. We’re certainly not alone in this issue and challenge,” said Larson. “It’s a very robust job market; certainly, there are lots of options, and to be honest, corrections is a tough job. It’s certainly not for everyone.
Larson also mentioned that turnover is creating challenges with overall operations. Half of the current corrections staff have less than 12 months of experience. According to Larson, that number is unheard of, and they’ll need to continue working towards finding solutions.
A timeframe and contractor update on the Red River Valley Juvenile Center was the next item discussed on the agenda. After Mark Dietz of Polk County Facilities was unable to attend the meeting to provide an update, Larson talked about discussions with ICON Architects and things that will play into when the building can once again be fully operating. “From the timeframe of drawing out plans, going through all the smaller legal portions of the project, realistically, the best-case scenario was around a June 2022 opening for the residential side of the building,” said Larson. “Worst case scenario could be September of 2022, just because ordering materials and supplies is taking a long time right now.”
Health Benefit renewal rates were also reviewed and discussed by the board for the upcoming year. There is no increase in the rates for the upcoming year, and Larson talked more about the details. “We’re a member of the Northwest Service Co-Op, and they went out and bid with other insurance providers and selected Medica,” said Larson. “A significant reduction was seen in administration costs with this, so we will be changing to them as our provider, and because of this, we’re able to keep our rates flat for this upcoming year.”
The 2022 budget was also discussed, and preliminary numbers were looked at by the board. Larson gave more details and discussed the challenge of coming up with a budget for this year with all the unknowns. “This was probably the most difficult budget we’ve ever had to create,” said Larson. “We can speculate what things will look like in 2022, but there are so many unknowns that you can’t plan for. Also, the Juvenile Center is another big unknown because we don’t know the timeframe and how that project is going to move along.”
The board was presented two different options for the Juvenile Center, and they will discuss and review the options at the next meeting on September 27. Specifically, the board will be asked if they want to continue operations as they currently are or if they want to temporarily close the secure side of the building until the residential side can re-open.
Not having the residential side of the Juvenile Center open has created issues with expenses for the budget, and Larson explained the biggest reason as to why. “Not having the residential side open makes us lose our ability to provide cost-effective services,” said Larson. “We have to staff the facility very similarly with just one side open, as we would with both open. This gets really expensive from a staffing perspective, and this is something the board will need to look at and decide on how to proceed.”
Larson isn’t sure there is a right answer to the problem and says he is hopeful a decision can be reached on the 27th. Other factors that will come into play with the upcoming year’s budget include personnel costs, increases in food services, and smaller decreases and replacements within employment and staffing.
As mentioned, the next board meeting will be a special meeting taking place on September 27.
