“I just can’t see us going out tomorrow morning and providing service.  I mean, what kind of a situation would we be in then?” Ada County Commission Chairman Rick Yzaguirre said. Report by KTVB.

Earlier this month, three named plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit against Nancy Cladis, the owner of Ada County Misdemeanor Probation Services.  After holding off their decision for a week (tabling the vote partially because of the lawsuit), county commissioners voted Tuesday 2-to-1 in favor of keeping their current contract with Cladis.

Yzaguirre says yes, there are allegations, but so far, that’s all they are.  Without proof or a court decision he says it’s fair and practical to keep the current contract with Cladis.

“Until she’s proven guilty, I’m interested in working with her,” Yzaguirre said.  “In my mind, we couldn’t just not renew the contract, step up tomorrow morning and start providing that level of service, so we needed a transition period.”

The renewed contract will stand through September 30, 2012, then Yzaguirre says the county is taking it over, supervising misdemeanor probationers through a new department.

“Separate budget, separate department, similar operation, only it will be managed by county employees,” Yzaguirre said.

Citing many complaints, Sharon Ullman is the only commissioner who voted against the renewal.

“I’ve been getting such a high volume of phone calls and email messages, I’ve been unable to keep up,” Ullman said.

She wants an investigation and the contract in county hands as soon as possible.  She called it irresponsible to sign the contract for another year without the allegations being investigated by the county.

“I truly believe that we as a county, our taxpayers, and the probationers themselves would be better off unsupervised for whatever time frame it takes us to gear up and be ready to run than to operate with somebody that we know is doing it wrong,” Ullman said.

Meantime, commissioners are putting county employees into Cladis’ office next week.  Ullman and Yzaquirre both say that move is partially as oversight, partially as transition to the county taking over the service.

“If anything is uncovered in our preparations, when we have our employees overseeing this operation, then certainly we can take action at that point in time,” Ullman said.

If allegations were found to be true, commissioners say their contract does allow them to immediately get out of their arrangement with Cladis and her company.

Cladis’ attorney, David Leroy, says she will file a response to the lawsuit soon.  He explains she will deny any wrongdoing and explain she followed Idaho law in charging extra fees for services like drug testing.  Also, Leroy says she does not profit from those additional fees, all money goes to testing companies.

The inmates arrived in Idaho on Monday.

Idaho has been relying on out-of-state prisons to house its inmates for a decade. But Department of Correction Director Brent Reinke said in a prepared statement Monday that the criminal justice system – from the courts to the treatment providers to the parole board – are functioning more efficiently. He says that’s led to an unprecedented decline in the state’s prison population, with 100 fewer inmates in state custody compared to last July.

Now 188 Idaho inmates remain at the Oklahoma prison. They are expected to be brought back by this fall.

The new Nez Perce County Jail in northern Idaho has been dedicated with events that included an open house.  The 61,675-square-foot complex that cost $19.1 million replaces an 81-year-old jail that was on the third floor of the county courthouse.  The jail was paid for by area residents who approved a half cent addition to the local sales tax.

Area residents got to see the jail Friday during the open house. The jail has about 170 beds that can be seen from two control rooms.   Deputy Jaclyn Martin says prisoners will get a minimum of privacy because safety concerns require about 130 security cameras.

Idaho currently has only one private prison _ the Idaho Correctional Center south of Boise, which is run by the Tenn.-based Corrections Corporation of America. ICC operates about 27 percent of the state’s prison beds.   But that percentage will steadily grow over the coming two years. The state expects to open another 628 beds at ICC by July, boosting the percentage of private beds in Idaho to 33 percent. Another 400 private beds are slated to open a year later at the new Correctional Alternative Placement Program. That would bring Idaho’s total private bed percentage to 37 percent. Idaho has more than 7,200 inmates.

Idaho Department of Correction officials announced this month they were preparing a formal request for information to see if any private prison companies would be interested in taking over the 500-bed Idaho Correctional Institution-Orofino. The effort is just research at this point, not a request for companies to actually bid on the contract, said Reinke. But if the switch were made, 43 percent of the states prison beds would be privately operated.  That could make Idaho second only to New Mexico (with 44 percent) in the ratio of privatized beds, according to the most recent Department of Justice numbers, collected in 2007 …

Just under 8 percent of prison beds are run by private facilities nationwide, according to 2007 statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice. The practice appears to be most prevalent in the West, with Montana privatizing more than 38 percent of its prison beds and Wyoming privatizing more than 30 percent.  It costs about $48 a day to house Idaho inmates in state-run prisons, compared to $40 a day at the new private beds at the Idaho Correctional Center, according to the department. Housing prisoners out-of-state at private facilities is more expensive, reaching nearly $62 per inmate per day.

“Prior to this fiscal crisis, legislators could tinker around the edges – but we’re now well past the tinkering stage,” said Marc Mauer, executive director of the Sentencing Project, which advocates alternatives to incarceration. “Many political leaders who weren’t comfortable enough, politically, to do it before can now – under the guise of fiscal responsibility – implement programs and policies that would be win/win situations, saving money and improving corrections,” Mauer said

In California, faced with a projected $42 billion deficit and prison overcrowding that has triggered a federal lawsuit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to eliminate parole for all offenders not convicted of violent or sex-related crimes, reducing the parole population by about 70,000. He also wants to divert more petty criminals to county jails and grant early release to more inmates – steps that could trim the prison population by 15,000 over the next 18 months.

In Kentucky, where the inmate population had been soaring, even some murderers and other violent offenders are benefiting from a temporary cost-saving program that has granted early release to nearly 2,000 inmates. Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine is proposing early release of about 1,000 inmates. New York Gov. David Paterson wants early release for 1,600 inmates as well as an overhaul of the so-called Rockefeller Drug Laws that impose lengthy mandatory sentences on many nonviolent drug offenders.  Policy-makers in Michigan, one of four states that spend more money on prisons than higher education, are awaiting a report later this month from the Council of State Governments’ Justice Center on ways to trim fast-rising corrections costs, likely including sentencing and parole modifications.

“There’s a new openness to taking a look,” said state Sen. Alan Cropsey, a Republican who in the past has questioned some prison-reform proposals. “What we’ll see are changes being made that will have a positive impact four, five, six years down the road.”

Safety remains a potent factor. In California, for example, the state correctional officers’ union contends Schwarzenegger’s proposals will fuel more crime.  In Idaho, a combination of budget cuts and prison overcrowding contributed to an uprising Jan. 2 in a former prison workshop that was converted into a temporary cell block. Inmates who engaged in vandalism and arson had been placed there as part of a cost-cutting effort to move other prisoners back to Idaho from more expensive quarters at a private prison in Oklahoma.

In Florida, where prisons are so crowded that the state has acquired tents for possible use to house inmates, officials say 19 new prisons may be needed over the next five years. As an alternative, Corrections Secretary Walter McNeil told lawmakers they should re-evaluate the state’s hard-line sentencing policies and look at ways to help released inmates avoid returning to prison.

As budgetary pressures worsen, some advocacy groups are concerned that spending cuts will target the very programs needed to help inmates avoid re-offending after release – education, vocational and drug-treatment programs.

“The idea that we’d cut programs and then release inmates early is a toxic combination,” said Pat Nolan, vice president of Prison Fellowship. “Just opening prison doors and letting people out with no preparation – that’s cruel to the offender and dangerous to public.”

The Council of State Government’s Justice Center has been working with 10 states to develop options for curbing prison populations without jeopardizing public safety. Tactics used in Texas and Kansas have included early release for inmates who complete specified programs, more sophisticated community supervision of offenders, and expanded treatment and diversion programs.

“There’s an unprecedented level of interest in this kind of thinking,” said the Justice Center’s director, Michael Thompson. “It’s a combination of fiscal pressure and a certain fatigue of doing the same thing as 20 years ago and getting the same return.”

But before sentencing philosophies can be adjusted and recidivism programs put in place, the economic downturn is having more immediate affects on the system and on its employees.

In Kansas, for example, a juvenile correctional facility in Atchison was shut down; and the Kansas Department of Corrections is shutting down boot camp correctional facilities in Labette County. On Friday, Washington State DOC confirmed they will be making some layoffs. On January 14th WADOC. will be meeting with the Teamsters Union to talk about program cut backs and lay offs. They hope the reduction process will be completed in February or March. WADOC wants to close unit five and either unit one or unit four at the Washington State Penitentiary and temporarily close one unit at the camp at Coyote Ridge. Also all pay raises are being frozen until further notice.

Maine Gov. John Baldacci on Friday unveiled a $6.1 billion budget for the next two years that cuts funding for prisons. Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the budget is in the state Department of Corrections. Baldacci proposes closing a 90-bed unit in the state prison in Warren, a 40-bed unit at the prison in Machiasport and a 94-unit bed at the Windham Correctional Center. To save money the budget calls for shipping 118 prisoners out of state. Baldacci said they would be prisoners with little or no family members in Maine, who are serving long sentences. Corrections Commissioner Martin Magnusson said it costs the state $103 a day per inmate to keep them here, and would be $66 to $70 to keep them out of state. A similar proposal was rejected by lawmakers in 2007, and it could face a tough sell this time around.

In Iowa, the 1.5 percent cut in state spending ordered last month could mean layoffs in the corrections system, but the department director said Friday he hopes to avoid them with a hiring freeze on vacant positions.Iowa Department of Corrections Director John Baldwin told members of the state board of corrections that he cannot guarantee that layoffs are off the table as the department considers ways to meet its obligations under the mandatory cuts. “The goal is to not lay anyone off,” he said. “Will we be successful? I can’t tell you.” The department has stopped hiring and will leave vacant positions unfilled, he said.

In Louisiana, the DOC is one of only two agencies so far that plans layoffs to cut costs. The corrections department intends to lay off 323 of its 6,400 employees, plus dozens of student workers, to help cut $11 million from its $554 million annual budget. Seventy people hired for a new skilled nursing unit for prisoners will be let go because the facility at the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center in St. Gabriel won’t expand as planned.

Citing safety concerns, the Police Benevolent Association, which represents Florida corrections officers, held a news conference in Tallahassee on Friday to speak out against the possible elimination of corrections officers jobs in the budget process.

“Since the last round of cuts, we’ve had two critical incidents in the prisons where a female officer was killed and one was sexually assaulted,” Jim Baiardi with the PBA said. “The staff’s backs are up against the wall.”

For the past few years, officials at the Idaho Department of Corrections have worked closely with the state Department of Health and Welfare, the Idaho Courts and the Commission on Pardons and Parole with one goal in mind: Reduce the state’s prison population.  It’s been working, so far. Instead of the usual 7 percent increase in new inmates entering the correction system, the prison population has grown by only 3 percent this year. But with an ever-worsening economy and hefty budget cuts pending in every state department, Idaho Department of Corrections Director Brent Reinke fears all the recent gains could be lost. “It’s not like you can just go out and say, ‘We’re going to take this and eliminate it,’” Reinke said. “The Department of Correction has a dependency on local government, our relationship with the courts, our dependency on the Department of Health and Welfare.”

The state has taken several approaches to reducing the prison population. Judges have created specialized drug and mental health courts that provide offenders with close supervision while they get treatment and take classes – often through Idaho Department of Health and Welfare programs – so they can learn the skills needed to live a healthy, drug-free life outside prison walls. Those who successfully complete the courts, or “graduate,” don’t have to serve their prison sentence.  The Correction Department is working more closely with the state parole board to in an effort to make sure that inmates have access to all the rehabilitation programs and classes they need before they show up to a parole hearing. That way, they’re more likely to be ready for release, Reinke said.   And the Parole Board frequently orders parolees to participate in support programs while on parole. Some are run by private groups, others by the Department of Health and Welfare, said Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole Executive Director Olivia Craven …

Otter has ordered all state departments and agencies to cut 4 percent from their budgets, and to develop a plan to cut another 2 percent if needed. For the Department of Corrections, that represents a $4 million reduction …

Idaho Department of Health and Welfare spokeswoman Emily Simnit declined to release any details about her agency’s planned budget cuts, but said many of the department’s substance abuse treatment programs are federally funded and so would not be as impacted as some other department services.   “Treating these criminal justice clients are one of our priority populations,” Simnit said. “We’re starting to see success with this and that’s something that we want to be able to continue with.”

Craven said the parole board would likely double up the number of parole hearings an officer hears on trips around the state as one way to reduce costs.

The county and Nampa and Caldwell police have written a proposal to book and release more people arrested by the cities’ police officers. The effort is intended to reduce the number of inmates in the county jail.  The reason: Canyon County faces a possible lawsuit from the ACLU and reduced insurance from the Idaho Counties Risk Management Program if it fails to take steps to reduce crowded conditions … The county’s main jail has about 425 inmates in a facility built for 250.  “The whole idea is to get our numbers down to whatever requests they (the ACLU of Idaho) are going to give us,” Smith said.

The book-and-release plan could be used with individuals for such offenses as speeding tickets and petty theft. It will not be used in cases of violent offenses, such as domestic violence or firearm offenses, Smith said …

Other potential measures to alleviate jail overcrowding

• Lower the cost for work release inmates from $20 to $12.50 a day. This could draw more qualifying inmates to the work release center. Commissioners are slated to consider the reduction this week.
• More use of security ankle bracelets. Some offenders waiting for sentencing could be released from jail with tracking ankle bracelets. Their jail time wait for sentencing can be as much as 10 days.

More information on this from Idaho Press-Tribune.

In Yavapai County AZ, voters rejected a quarter cent tax increase for jail operations; voters in Kootenai County ID turned down a $145m bond and a half-cent tax increase intended to expand jail facilities; same result in Washington County OK for a $13m bond and a half-cent tax hike; and another rejection in Jackson County MI for a $22m jail bond; and in Portage County WI, voters refused a $72m bond to build a new justice center and jail, causing neighbouring Marathon County to call for a regional jail solution.

And all this on top of the failure in California of nearly $1 billion in additional law enforcement funding, a refusal to fund drug treatment alternatives, and a tightening of rules on parole.

The document can be accessed from the Basic Stats list at the top right sidebar.

Idaho sent more than 400 inmates to prisons in Texas and Oklahoma in 2007, and another 700 prisoners were moved out of state in this year.  The growth in the out-of-state prison population prompted the Idaho Department of Correction to develop the Virtual Prison Program last year and assign a dozen officers to monitor these inmates from a distance.  However, state officials say bringing inmates back to Idaho is a priority.  Brent Reinke, director of the state Department of Correction, says moving prisoners out of state results in higher costs for Idaho and cause an inconvenience for the families of inmates.