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 by approving the monthly statistics review and a Statistical Reports Review of all departments for October. The board heard from Executive Director Andrew Larson, who reported that they had received a few temporary ICE detainees in the Center that would likely be gone by the end of the day. Larson reported that for their accounts receivable, there was a small COVID outbreak that lasted three weeks in the jail, but all inmates had no conditions that caused any major cases, but they had to make some changes in how they brought in some inmates for the month.
PERSONNEL ISSUES
The board then received an update on Personnel issues from Director Andrew Larson, who explained that they had wished to talk about a request from Jodi Sullivan to go from Probation Secretary Clerk II to III after they had done some restructuring within their Probation Services Department. He explained that this would reduce any overtime expenditure they were planning for the fee schedule for the year and cause cost saving for them by about $10,000. Larson also mentioned that there were several new appointments to the Corrections Center as well as some for Red River Juvenile Center. Four new Juvenile Custody Officers for the Center, which included Michell DeLeon, Alexandra Johnson, and Ma Fatima Sibulo, who were starting on Monday. There was also Jacy Knock, who was starting on November 21. He also reported that they had a new Corrections Officer, Titan Engen, starting on November 17. They had also gotten a new Caseworker from Arizona that was coming to work on December 5. Larson said he had also made several trips to the local colleges, such as UMC’s Criminal Justice classes, about their program to hopefully find some applications and had seen some positive responses from the students. Larson reported that three officers had passed their probationary period back in September: Correctional Corporals Hannah Cordes and Ricky Fillion and Corrections Officer Jillian Tanaka passed at the end of September. Larson reported they had one resignation, which was Corrections Officer Paige Spurgeon, with her last day being November 2. They also had a promotion which was Rebecca Lallier being promoted from a Probation Secretary Clerk II to a Probation Agent. The board approved the report unanimously.
Pre-Trial Supervision Update
The board then heard an update about the Pre-Trial Supervision with Chief Probation Officers Jessica Hajicek and Senior Agent Raelene Aarhus. Larson explained that the program has been operational for about six months and is funded for the next two years thanks to a grant. Aarhus explained that the purpose of the supervision was to reduce the jail population, prevent offenders from committing repeat crimes, and provide courts with information so they could make decisions. They explained that any inmates put on supervision, Aarhus explained she plans and monitors the children’s conditions based on the judge’s decision, and if there are any breaches in the conditions, they can make arrests and reports to the attorneys for sentencing for it. Aarhus explained that there were 35 people in the program, with four starting residential services, some were looking to begin jobs, and others were having supervised child visits. However, seven had failed to meet their conditions, and two others had committed new crimes. Larson believed they were moving along well so far and planned to have this discussed at their advisory board meeting in December.
2022 3rd Quarter Internal Audit Report
The board then heard from Deputy Director Paul Bissonette on an update on the 3rd Quarter Internal Audit Report for the year. He explained that their insurance revenue was slightly higher than expected at a little over $30,000, and their bank interest rate on their money market account had also been higher than anticipated. However, they had seen a significant shortfall in their anticipated revenue with the Juvenile Center and the Corrections Center per diems. The per diems they had received dropped about 30% with each county, which was a bit lower due to the federal marshal being closed for most of the year. “We knew that was going to be an issue when the board moved to close down one of our housing units because of staffing shortages,” Larson explained. “We knew that was going to have a detrimental impact on our ability to house per diems, and based upon the budget numbers that we’ve seen through the first three quarters of the year, it has had a significant impact.” Bissonette explained that they wanted to be at about 75% of the anticipated revenue for the third quarter, but they were currently at 54%. He continued saying that while they were below the anticipated revenue, they were starting to see the numbers for the Corrections Center begin to trend in the right direction, but they weren’t able to make up for the first half of the year by the end. Bissonette explained their expenditures were high for the administration, and their advertising had also increased due to their recruitment video and other advertising forms. Bissonette finished the report saying they spent $831,000 this year, which was a $481,778 difference from last year’s budget at the third quarter of the year. The board approved the report unanimously.
CONTRACTS/AGREEMENTS
The board then began discussions for the approval of three contracts. The first was for the approval of the Polk County Social Services Host County Contract for the Transition Program Services for 2023, which made Polk County the host county for the Center’s services for 2023.
Identified Official with Authority Agreement
Larson then came forward with their annual requirement of the Minnesota Department of Education to designate him as the Identified Official with Authority for the Corrections Center. “Each year, the Department of Education requires the board to do a resolution identifying me as the Official with Authority,” Larson explained. “It designates me as the person responsible for delineating user access within the education database that we use to track the statistics, data, and funding drawdowns for our ABE (Adult Basic Education) program.” The board approved both agreements unanimously.
Liberty Printing contract
The board then listened to some information on a contract with Liberty Printing. Paul Bissonette explained the departments had a service agreement with Liberty Printing for a 5-year agreement that was coming to an end at the end of December. The current contract covers all of the labor to repair the printers and copiers and give them any necessary supplies. Liberty proposed another 5-year contract for a smaller amount and would replace three older printers that Liberty didn’t maintain anymore.
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS
The board then began discussions on the reopening of the Red River Valley Juvenile Center. Director Larson first gave an update on the revised timeline and on the current recruitment efforts for the Center. He explained that they started to get more information, with the HVAC system would arrive by the end of the week and would install it over the next four to six weeks, which Larson noted could cause a bit of delay with the upcoming holidays. “The HVAC system should be on sight this week. I think the 16th or 17th is the date that sticks in my mind,” Larson explained. “From the start, they’ve anticipated a four-to-six-week install timeframe, so that’s going to be complicated a little bit because of the timing with Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other holidays which makes a little of an unknown.” Larson said that on the week of November 28, they would reach out to other advertising for the position and hold several training sessions for new staff this week to teach them Corrections-specific training and then begin Juvenile Center-specific training in December. Larson mentioned that the Department of Corrections would visit them on November 30 to inspect the Juvenile Center. Larson explained that the targeted opening date would be early January. Larson said they had to be mindful of the amount of children they would allow in for the first few weeks due to the new staff coming into the Center. Paul Bissonette reported that they had received 11 applicants for the case worker positions. However, several had not responded to attempts to reach out to them. There were also 29 candidates for the Corrections Officer, and six were starting within the next two weeks, but four had withdrawn, and two did not respond.
Reaching Rural Initiative Update
The board then received an update on the Reaching Rural Initiative. Larson explained that they had heard a preliminary notice that they had been accepted into the initiative but said he would have more information about it at the next meeting in December.
TCCC Advisory Board Meeting
The final miscellaneous item they discussed was about their upcoming TCCC Advisory Board Meeting, which was scheduled for December 2 at the Red River Valley Juvenile Center. Larson reported that they would have lunch at 11:30 a.m. and then begin their meeting at noon.
OCTOBER 2022 INVOICES
The board finished the meeting by approving the invoices and bills for the county for October, which they approved unanimously.
The board will meet again on Monday, December 12, at the Tri-County Corrections Center.
